Hampton by Hilton Alcobendas Madrid

The room was great, excellent value for money. The pool was also fantastic, very clean water and a good depth. Breakfast was pretty good too, and the service was nice.

The room size and facilities were acceptable, and the breakfast was decent, though not extensive. However, there are many points to criticize about this hotel! 1. They claim to be near the airport, but the closest Terminal (T4) is about 6 km away, and T1 is around 12 km away. The problem is, the hotel doesn't offer a shuttle bus service. Guests have to arrange their own taxi (starting at 20+ Euros) or use public transportation. 2. Since the hotel is in the suburbs, public transport isn't convenient. The only bus, the 159, comes every half hour, and it doesn't run on weekends. (On weekends, you have to walk 15 minutes to Plaza Norte to catch the 156 bus to a city metro station.) Taking the bus and then transferring to the metro to get to the city center, including waiting times, takes at least 1.5 hours. (Fine for backpackers, but tiring for those with a lot of luggage.) 3. On weekdays, to get to the airport, you need to walk 500 meters to catch the 827 bus to T4, then take a shuttle to T1. On weekends, you first have to take a bus to the metro station and then transfer to the metro to get to the airport (which takes over an hour), whereas a taxi only takes about ten minutes. (The 10-trip metro card bought from vending machines cannot be used on buses in the hotel's area, and the Tourist Ticket day pass is only valid for the same day and expires overnight.) 4. The hotel rooms don't even provide cheap bottled water; they just offer a fridge for you to buy your own drinks. Coffee and tea bags are only provided twice upon check-in and are not replenished afterward. While not changing bedsheets might be acceptable, it's unacceptable that some trash cans aren't emptied during cleaning! 5. On the last day, I found two long hairs in my breakfast. When I reported it to the front desk, they just gave an awkward smile. As a Hilton brand, even if it's just a 3-star Hampton, the current service level needs improvement. It's not good value for money and not recommended! This is for everyone's reference to avoid a bad experience.