Review: Hilton Madrid Airport hotel – bookable in the Hilton sale

This is our review of the Hilton Madrid Airport hotel.

Hilton is currently running its latest weekends sale for hotels and resorts across the UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa.

You can get up to 20% off participating properties in the UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa when you book by 2nd September for stays by 7th September. 

Over the recent weeks we’ve reviewed three high profile Hilton properties in Europe, all bookable in the Hilton sale – London Hilton on Park Lane (review), Conrad Dublin (review) and Waldorf Astoria Versailles Trianon Palace (review). So why did I choose Hilton Madrid Airport from a shortlist?

Well, we know that a lot of HfP readers redeem Avios on long haul Iberia flights from Madrid.

Iberia has an unbeatable network from Europe to South, Central and Latin America and, of course, you can use your British Airways American Express 2-4-1 Companion Voucher on Iberia. This HfP article looks at where you can fly on Iberia, long haul.

Some Iberia flight times will require you to stay overnight in Madrid at the start or end of your trip, so we thought this review would be of some use. Hilton provided our room but HfP paid all other costs. Hilton has not seen this review before publication.

You can learn more about Hilton Madrid Airport on its website here.

You can see full details of the current sale on the Hilton website here.

Where is the Hilton Madrid Airport hotel?

Hilton Madrid Airport is a short shuttle bus ride from the airport. Whilst it’s not actually ON the airport, if I craned my neck from my room window I was just about able to see some planes (a favourite sight of mine). You can see the airport from the back of the hotel.

I flew in with Iberia so landed at Terminal 4, and waited about 20 minutes for the Hilton shuttle to arrive.

The bus takes a circular route from the hotel, leaving on the hour and half past, between 5am and 12.45am, so you’ll never be waiting wait too long. It does trundle round the other terminals so its not the quickest way to cover a couple of kilometres. However it’s free and that suited me.

As mentioned above, this hotel is a good choice if you are connecting to an early flight and need to be close to the airport. However the hotel is also only about 10km out of central Madrid.

I decided to head into the city on my second evening to visit the Prado museum (no charge between 6pm and 8pm – you just need to go to the ticket office and they will give you your free ticket). I took an Uber one way and a city taxi back and it was in the region of €20 both times.

The hotel is formed of two identical, almost brutalist, blocks. The top picture is of the South Tower which is where reception, the restaurants, executive lounge and my room were located. This hotel clearly caters for large functions, as in the North Tower you can find a ballroom and many large meeting rooms, as well as the leisure facilities.

The lobby is a large, cool space with reception to the left and plentiful seating all around leading to the Ferrum Bar (right) and La Plaza restaurant ahead in the central atrium.

The central atrium stretches up to the top of the hotel, with walkways around on each floor. Above is the view down from the 5th floor where my room was located.

My room at Hilton Madrid Airport

As with the public areas of the hotel, the design aesthetic of the room was quite stark, using primary colours, lots of glass and hard surfaces – nothing pastel or frilly about this place.

With its exposed (whether faux or not) textured concrete wall it felt cool and very Spanish for an international chain hotel.

My room was a King Executive Corner Room. The layout was unusual, with the bed positioned on a slant to allow a desk area to be created between it and the bathroom, which was in a corner of the room.

This was a fully working trip for me, and this area had the best work space of any hotel I have visited. It made a huge difference to have a proper chair and solid desk with a good light and enough sockets!

As if one office style chair wasn’t enough, there was a second one by a table. This was next to the shelf running along the side of the room from the wardrobe (large with opaque glass doors) to the window.

This was where the TV screen, kettle, mugs and sachets of coffee, tea and creamer plus a small fridge were located. No coffee machine here though – whilst this is only a four star establishment, that isn’t an excuse these days.

There were another two chairs – both comfortable – with yet another useful height table in front of a mirror – a good place for drying your hair!

(The hairdryer was in the bathroom, while other amenities like bathrobes, slippers and safe were all in the wardrobe, along with the iron and ironing board.)

The bathroom was formed from a corner of the room, with enough privacy accorded by the opaque sliding doors.

As with the bedroom area, this was a high functioning space, with a separate toilet cubicle including a bidet, separate shower, jacuzzi bath and wash basin and, as you can see, no shortage of mirrors!

The Executive Lounge at Hilton Madrid Airport

There is a small Executive Lounge on the 4th floor of the hotel.

The lounge is open between 7am and 8pm for tea, coffee and some refrigerated soft drinks as well as nuts and crackers. There is sofa seating in front of, and in an alcove to the left of, the TV in addition to the tables and chairs shown above.

‘Happy Hour’, when a selection of wines and spirits is on offer, runs from 5pm – 7pm. There is also a small selection of food at this time.

On the day I was there this was gazpacho, iberico ham baguettes, a selection of cheeses and small bowls of vegetable pasta salad, along with sourdough bread and olive oil.

There is a sign in the lounge advising that breakfast is available in La Plaza between 6.30 and 10.30am (i.e. don’t come to the Executive Lounge expecting breakfast!)

Leisure facilities at Hilton Madrid Airport

Leisure facilities at Hilton Madrid airport include a sauna and steam room ….

…. and a swimming pool which is open air, unless the retractable roof is closed.

The fitness centre was under renovation during my visit, but it normally occupies the indoor space next to the pool. There is a good range of modern machines and free weights, which I saw temporarily housed in one of the meeting rooms.

Restaurants and Bar at Hilton Madrid Airport

There are three places for food and drink in the hotel, all located on the ground floor in the same block as reception.

The Ferrum Bar is open between 11am and midnight every day. It offers an extensive range of wines, beers and cocktails along with a bar menu of tapas as well as items like pizzas, club sandwiches, hamburgers and salads.

There’s a lot of spacious seating of various types – this area being exactly the sort of place you might wait for your shuttle bus to the airport.

Lunch is offered at the ‘fine dining’ Reserva Grill between 12 noon and 3.30pm and I tried it out for dinner (7pm – 11pm).

Above is one of the three ‘From the Sea’ options – Grilled Salmon / Cauliflower / Sweet Dressed Broccoli for €27.

The cauliflower was in the form of puree, and I think the broccoli was chargrilled as well as the salmon. It was however all well seasoned, and despite my initial misgivings at the extent of the grilling of the salmon, it was tasty and not at all dry.

Other options, ‘From the Land’, included chicken, entrecôte, pork ribs and beef tenderloin, while the healthy options included three vegetarian options of the four offered – including Slow Cooked Artichokes / Candied Mushrooms / Fried Egg for €24.

My favourite course was dessert, Hot Chocolate ‘Sablé’ / Dulce de Leche Ice Cream – the priciest pud on the menu at €12.

Breakfast at La Plaza

The largest area on the ground floor is reserved for La Plaza, where a buffet breakfast is available between 6.30am and 10.30am every day.

Breakfast is laid out along the entire back wall of the restaurant, supplemented with a couple of islands. It is standard breakfast buffet fare, including all hot options (bacon, sausage, tomatoes, beans ….) and an eggs station for freshly made omelettes or any other style of egg you would like.

There was a selection of fresh fruit, cereals, seeds, pastries, cold cuts, cheeses and salads:

…. as well as Spanish options including tortilla.

I was breakfasting early, aiming to catch the 7am shuttle, and although La Plaza was busy even at that hour, I was very swiftly seated. It was noticeable that there was a high staff presence maintaining the food and checking on all the tables (not just mine) in such a manner as though they genuinely cared!

Conclusion

The stand out aspect of this hotel for me was the room itself. I needed to work and this was the perfect space for it.

If you need to be close to Madrid airport it is a good choice – you are guaranteed not to get caught in any traffic either to or from the airport if you make this your base. €20 in an Uber to the city centre is also manageable if you want to fit in some shopping or culture.

The Hilton Madrid Airport is included in Hilton’s Summer Sale for UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa hotels.

In terms of pricing, I found the same room as mine for €225 later on this month, with other King guest rooms starting from €175 per night. Reward nights are from 45,000 Hilton Honors points.

The Hilton Madrid Airport website is here if you want to book, check prices or find out more.