My husband and me stayed at the Gran Ayre Colon hotel during the GENERA Feria 26 - 29 February .
The main reason for our choice was that the metro station Saint de Baranda was 100mt from the hotel and you had to change only two lines (half an hour from Aeropuerto or Campo de las Naciones ) .
Nevertheless keep in mind that line number 9 is the deepest line ( about 240 mt under ground level ,uncountable stairs ).
Our room was in the America building ,for which we have read bad criticism .Anyway , it was very nice and quiet .
Our twin room ( though we had reserved a double ) was big enough , it had two arm chairs and two tables in a small living room , another small room with a closet and of course the bathroom and the main bedroom .
The price we paid was A BARGAIN !!!
Since we did not want breakfast , we had coffee in the hotel cafeteria.
A very cosy minimal cafeteria where we paid only 4.5euros for two coffees ( con lecce ,as they call the cappuccino) and two sweets .
Across the street there was a very nice Italian restaurant , Gino's , where you can eat in very reasonable prices descent food .
Of course if you walk , about , 1km there are many tapas restaurants .

I know this hotel very well because of it's proximity to my parents place where I lived for 10 years. It is located in Barrio de la Estrella, not right in the town centre but very close, just a couple of tube stops away or a 15 min bus ride. When our relatives come to visit they always stay at this hotel. One of the advantages is that the location is very quiet at night.

The room was incredibly spacious, with a huge king size bed (or even bigger) and a lot of wardrobe space. There were no drinks in the minibar other than complimentary water provided by the hotel but there were drinks available from reception. The bathroom was also huge, with two sinks and all sorts of complimentary toiletries, there was a safe and wifi at the room.

I didn't try the breakfast or the restaurant at the hotel, as knowing the neighbourhood well, I knew exactly where to go for the best places!

Their staff were corteous and fairly helpful. It would have helped if someone had walked us to our room since the hotel has two buildings and can be a bit of a maze.

the staff at this hotel were very pleasant, but beware there are 2 parts to the hotel and if you are not staying in the main part you are not allowed to dine in the a la carte restaurant.
the hotel was to hot at night and this was in november, could hardly breathe in the mornings and there is no tea making facilities in the room.
the hotel do give you water each day in the fridge and the rooms are very clean but small.
the hotel also do not have an iron they charge a fortune for dry cleaning so make sure you take your own unless you can afford it.
didnt stay in the hotel much but 1 night i ordered a film as i was very ill and it cost me 12.50 euros which i thought was a bit steep but i suppose it was cheaper than going out.
there is a lovely chinese restaurant called bamboo over the road from the hotel which i would highly recommend and i would also like to advise the hotel is quite far from the centre but the metro system is great there, you can go anywhere on the circuit for 1 euro.
i love madrid as a city it is so big a must see is the retiro park and the zoo.
party goers beware there is not much party life in madrid there are 3 clubs that are very expensive and they dont have actual bars with music all the bars are more like little cafes with no music wrap up very warm if not travelling in the summer months or the locals will stare as if your from another planet.

Was disappointed when we first arrived as we were not expecting to be this far away from the centre. The area that this hotel is in is obviously residential, with many tall brick apartment buildings around, they are not a pretty sight when you want to see Spain. It's a very quiet area, not much going on, don't expect to step outside and find shops or anything. There are a couple of small restaurants nearby, but they're nothing special. Closest metro station is "Sainz de Baranda" which is a 3 minute walk from the hotel. It's about 5-6 stops on 2 different metro lines to get to the centre.

Hotel itself was ok. Room was definitely on the small side but it was efficient enough. Of course your view here will look like the suburbs in any western country. Not a unique experience here. The price was good though, decent value for accommodation in Madrid. But then again, you have to balance that with the decrease in convenience factor.