Hotel Plaza Mayor IS a very close walk to one of the city's prime tourist attractions: the Plaza itself. My son and I found it to be clean, safe and convenient. The showers were extraordinarily small, however. For the same price (actually at bit less I think, because tax was included), we also stayed at the Hotel Europa one night. That place had larger rooms and showers, and was NO less centrally located (right by the Plaze del Sol--a very convenient metro stop.) The Europa also had a restaurant right off the lobby, and free internet (which Plaza Mayor did not). So while they both represent good values for the money, I would recommend Europa over this place.

I just returned from a trip to Madrid, and stayed at Hotel Plaza Mayor for five nights. Two were in a double room, and three in a single. I found this hotel to be an exceptional value! It is one block from Plaza Mayor and easily walkable to all the sights. The hotel was recently renovated and a lot of attention went into the details. The staff was incredibly friendly and helpful. The rooms were very nice, and fairly spacious in my experience with European hotels. They have full bathrooms as well, which was nice. For being on a main road, the rooms were incredibly quiet too! This hotel is priced much less than most that we saw on Tripadvisor in Madrid, and was a great find that I would recommend to anyone that I know!

We were very pleased with our stay at Plaza Mayor. We arrived early and were still able to check in. I had requested a corner room on the top floor (recommended by other travellers). They gladly accomodated the request and as a result had a great view and were away from most of the street noise. Situated right off the Plaza Mayor and close to the Sol Metro station, we were well situated to have a great stay in Madrid. We found the hotel staff to be friendly and as helpful as they could with the language barrier. There were also great food spots close by off Calle Barcelona.

In. contrast to the previous review I found the staff very friendly and helpful and all spoke good English. One in particular spent a long time translating a menu for us. The hotel is in an excellent position and how quiet the rooms are will depend on if you have one by the street or inside. We had one inside which was very quiet but lacked a little natural light. The windows are tall but face a small courtyard with rooms above. If you want ventilation you will have to stand on a chair to open the top hung window although there is air conditioning. The rooms were clean but basic, i.e laminate floors instead of carpet but better clean laminate than stained carpet. The bathroom was fine but beware of sudden changes in water temperature when using the shower, also our friends in another room had to run the water for a while to get it hot.
The breakfast consisted of cereals, toast,bread,fruit, juices, pastries , bacon and scrambled eggs. My friends and I thought it was ample and good value. There are safes in the rooms to hire for 1.5 euros a day.
All things considered I think for a 2 star hotel in that location it was a good choice. You could easily spend a lot more and get a lot less for it. I was more than happy with our stay and think the hotel deserves the positive reviews it gets from the majority of posters.