Review: Ibis Madrid Aeropuerto Barajas

March 8, 2023December 29, 2023 Koen 0 Comments

This review covers my stay at ibis Madrid Aeropuerto Barajas, an airport hotel within walking distance of Terminal 1, 2 and 3.

Madrid airport hotel

After a great time eating tapas in Madrid, it was time to head back home.

As I had an early morning flight out of Madrid to Milan, I decided to stay my last night in the Spanish capital in an airport hotel close to the terminal.

This would allow me to walk to the terminal in the early hours of morning instead of having to take a night bus or taxi.

I had booked myself a night at the ibis Madrid Aeropuerto Barajas, located in the suburb after which Madrid’s airport is named.

To reach the hotel, I simply took a metro from the city centre to the Barajas metro stop and walked for 10 minutes to the hotel entrance.

madrid rainy day — *It was a rainy day in Madrid when I went to my airport hotel. ©Paliparan*

madrid metro — *Taking the Madrid metro to the hotel. ©Paliparan*

ibis hotel madrid airport — *The building in which the ibis hotel is located. ©Google Streetview*

Ibis hotel check-in

As there was a person in front of me in the queue, I had to wait for a few minutes until it was my turn to be checked in.

The check-in process was smooth and within minutes I got they key card to my room.

For a one night stay in a double room I paid 75 euro – a rate which didn’t include breakfast.

reception desk hotel — *Hotel reception desk. ©Paliparan*

hotel corridor — *Hotel corridor. ©Paliparan*

Room

At first sight, my double room at the ibis Madrid Aeropuerto Barajas was the typical room you would expect from an ibis hotel.

It had the basic room design of an ibis hotel and all the standard facilities such as a desk, flatscreen TV and wardrobe.

Unfortunately there was quite some wear and tear in the room.

Although my room was clean, the bed was not neatly made up and the mattress was sagged like it has been used for more than a decade.

Rather annoyingly, there were no bedside power sockets, although there were some at the desk.

The room also felt freezing cold on this cold and rainy autumn day and the heating barely worked.

Overall, I was certainly not too impressed with the quality of my room.

*My double room at the ibis Madrid Aeropuerto Barajas hotel. ©Paliparan*

flatscreen tv — *Flatscreen TV. ©Paliparan*

clothes rack — *Clothes rack and storage space. ©Paliparan*

desk ibis Madrid Aeropuerto Barajas — *Desk. ©Paliparan*

barajas — *View from my room. ©Paliparan*

Bathroom

The bathroom was fortunately a bit better as it was spacious and clean.

However, you shouldn’t expect any amenities apart from a hairdryer and basic soap and shampoo from dispensers.

shower ibis Madrid Aeropuerto Barajas — *Bathroom. ©Paliparan*

Hotel facilities

The ibis Madrid Aeropuerto Barajas has Wi-Fi internet throughout the entire hotel, which was free, fast and reliable.

The hotel also features a bar and restaurant, although I didn’t try them out during my stay.

On the plus side, I thought the public areas of the hotel did look modern and fresh.

ibis Madrid Aeropuerto Barajas hotel bar — *Ibis hotel bar. ©Paliparan*

breakfast room ibis hotel barajas madrid airport Aeropuerto — Breakfast room. ©Paliparan

Hotel location

The ibis Madrid Aeropuerto Barajas is located in the working class neighbourhood of Barajas.

Even at night and in the early morning, the area around the hotel felt perfectly safe.

There are lots of cafés, bars and restaurants tailored towards the local community in the immediate vicinity, so you should have no problem getting a nice meal or a drink outside of the hotel.

Walking to Madrid Barajas Airport

The main reason why I selected the ibis Madrid Aeropuerto Barajas was its close proximity to Terminal 1, 2 and 3 of Madrid Barajas Airport.

At the time of my visit, no free shuttle bus was offered so your options are to walk, take the metro for 1 stop, or take a taxi (approximately €20).

I decided to walk all the way to the airport to avoid the airport surcharge for the metro and to wake up properly from the cold morning air at this early hour.

It takes about 20 minutes to walk from the ibis hotel to Terminal 1-2-3 of Madrid Barajas Airport.

Most of the walk is straightforward, although you will help yourself by using Google Maps or another navigation app.

The walk takes you along a roundabout, across a pedestrian bridge over a motorway and through the Terminal 2 parking garage.

However, do note that this only works if your flight actually departs from Terminal 1, 2 or 3.

If your flight departs from Terminal 4 of Madrid Barajas Airport (all Iberia flights and other oneworld airlines among others) walking will be in a completely different direction and will take much longer, making the metro a better option.