Some Advice for Visiting Hashers (Updated February 2019)
We get a lot of visiting hashers in Madrid – and we are delighted to see visitors from other hashes around the world attending our R*ns.
We have recently been getting a lot of requests about accomodation while in Madrid. A lot of Madrid hashers aren’t really in a position to put up visitors. This is because those of us who live centrally typically live in apartments with limited space. Those of us who live further out of the city are usually in places that tourists don’t particularly want to stay in (e.g. Alcobendas or San Sebastian de los Reyes) and which aren’t very well-connected to the city centre.
However, feel free to send an e-mail to the hash e-mail list, contact someone listed on this web-site or apply to our to see if there is the possibility to get accomodation from a hasher when you’re here. But if that doesn’t work you could try the Couchsurfing web-site.
Alternatively, there are a number of hotels/hostals that we can suggest. These are all reasonably central in Madrid which means you’ve access to the metro for getting to Larry’s Bar for the Sunday and First Friday runs. Madrid HHH does not endorse the accomodation listed below but we have heard good reports about these places:
Abami Hostal – rates are (taxes included):
Single room (Shared bathroom): 20€
Single room (Private bathroom): 35 – 45€
Double room (1 bed & Private bathroom): 45 – 55€
Double room (2 beds & Private bathroom): 45 – 55€
Triple room (3 beds & Private bathroom): 55 – 65€
Its central, clean and can be cheap if you dont mind sharing a bathroom (last option).
Note that in Spain a “hostal” does not mean a hostel. It means a small, usually reasonably priced, hotel.
Moving slightly more upmarket there’s the 4-star Emperador Hotel
This is very central and (usually) reasonably priced. It has the distinction of having a pool on the roof (summer-time only) which is unusual for Madrid hotels.
Madrid Hashers: If you’ve other suggestions let Not Half Bad know!
Public transport
Madrid has got one of the best public transport systems in the world, the card below can be charged with trips and can be used in almost any public transport (metro, bus, & intercity (interurbano) bus) in zone A. Cercanías train tickets have to be purchased separately. This card can also be used by more than 1 person at the same time.
There are several zones, but in the city you’ll only need zone A. Some of our runs outside of the city might take you to zones B1, B2 or even further. If the run goes past zone A and we use interurbano buses, you’ll need to bring cash to pay the driver (small bills & coins preferably).
We recommend visitors to download an offline version of the map of Madrid on Google Maps to have access to it without an internet conection.
We’ve found that one of the best apps to move around Madrid is (even better than Google Maps since it includes buses as well)
Airport
Taxis to/from the airport have a flat rate of 30€. Uber & Cabify are also available but they won’t stop at the gate, you’ll have to walk to a nearby car park.
Cercanías trains go only to Terminal 4 & it’s the fastest one. Metro goes to T2 & T4. (T1 & T3 are accesible on foot from T2)
There is also a bus (5€ cash only, largest note accepted €20) that leaves from Atocha-Renfe (or from Cibeles at night)
