HELP! No Hotels in or around Madrid less than $600 during UEFA Champions League

You could try looking in the city of Zaragoza, about 1:30 hr from Madrid by AVE high speed train. Zaragoza is an interesting city to visit in it's own right too.

Thanks Carlos. It's a beautiful place, I just checked it out. Unfortunately I also checked the train schedule and the earliest train that morning will be too late for me to catch my plane. I might have to look into a car service, but it could be worth it! Appreciate it!

I've never stayed there but Alcala de Hernares is a pleasant suburb or part of Madrid where the University is located. I see they have some hotels left that aren't cheap but some are around
260/per night according to TripAdvisor. I believe there is an hourly bus that will take you to the airport in an hour. But again I have done it personally. I'm afraid that everywhere near Madrid will be $$$ or sold out because of game.

Could you reschedule your train from Seville until 6/1 and then stay at an airport hotel for the night?

Thanks Heather. I just checked out Alcala de Hernares. Even there the hostels are $300 per night. yikes. Good idea about coming up from Seville later, but the airport hotels are sold out too! I'm thinking that hopefully as people's teams lose, they might cancel their reservations and things might open up. I can only hope. Appreciate the help!

I was going to suggest Alcala de Henares, too. I'm sorry prices are also inflated there. I wouldn't exactly call it a suburb of Madrid, but maybe it is, because there's a rail connection that I myself have referred to as a "commuter line". There's a schedule look-up webpage here.

Schedules for June don't seem to be loaded yet, so I looked at the schedule for this coming Sunday. The first train departs AdeH at 5:50 AM and arrives at Atocha Station at 6:32 AM and at Chamartin Station at 6:45 AM. I don't know which Madrid station would be better if you're heading for the airport.

I'd prefer to be a bit closer to the airport the night before a transatlantic flight.

There are a few places on booking.com that are well under $600/night (though still grossly overpriced), including a junior suite at the airport for $363.

Although I'd be just as disturbed as you are if this happened to me, I bet between now and June 1 some scattered rooms will open up if you keep checking. It would be nerve-wracking to wait to find something, though, and I think you're going to end up having to overpay.

Linda, it's probably a long shot but for at least the night before your flight, what about a room IN the airport, if there's one open? Or did you already look at this?

https://www.aeropuertomadrid-barajas.com/eng/sleeping-in-madrid-airport.htm

Thanks Kathy! It's sold out there too....

Everyone - keep the suggestions coming :-) I'm checking them ALL out as you write!

Since not all hotel rooms are offered on websites like booking.com, it's worthwhile to check corporate websites as well. I don't know the names of whatever Spanish budget-hotel chains exist, but I see that there's at least one Ibis hotel in Madrid, so that's one place to look.

You could try Cuenca, about an hour a way by train. I am seeing places in Toledo that are way less than $600 per night on booking.com. (I only checked the last night; some hotels may have a direct shuttle to the airport from Toledo as well).

Staying in Toledo before a Sunday flight out of Madrid has proved difficult for a couple of posters in the past, but they may have had much earlier flights to deal with. Definitely do check the train schedule.

Edited to add: I looked at the schedule, and the earliest departure from Toledo is at 9:25 AM, arriving in Madrid at 9:58. Too late, unfortunately.

Cuenca is a clever idea, and definitely a worthy destination in its own right, but the first train out of Cuenca on Sunday isn't until 8:58 AM, and it gets to Atocha Station at 9:53, again not nearly early enough. The main traffic on that AVE route probably consists of passengers boarding in Valencia, and I guess folks aren't interested in leaving Valencia before 8 AM on a Sunday.

I use AirBnB and generally sstisfies but i hate that hosts do this. How many are there of you? Just 2?
Some here say they get lodgings through the local tourist bureau....for those without websites. Perhaps there are locals with spare bedrooms listed there for this event.

Honestly, I would investigate the possibility of changing my flight-maybe end your trip in Lisbon. I think you can fly from Sevilla to Lisbon?

It isn't ideal, but I did see hostals (not hostels) on Booking for under $400 a night based on your dates. Or, go into Madrid for one night and hang out somewhere else for the other. Worst comes to worst, maybe you sleep at the airport on the 1st https://www.sleepinginairports.net/guides/madrid-barajas-airport-guide.htm
And I know you were burned on VRBO, but AirBnB has dozens of private bedrooms under $100.
I know the 'sold her apartment' thing might seem scheptical, but there is also the recent plan for Madrid to reduce all short let apartments to requiring separate entrances.....maybe she did in fact sell. There is bound to be a short let apartment shake up soon.

You might see if you can change your flight to fly from Sevilla to wherever you are going and spend the last night in Sevilla instead of backtracking to Madrid to fly out. It's worth a shot, may cost less than a hotel in Madrid.

I’ll be in Madrid in September. The beginning of the month hotel prices are normal, but at the end of the month there’s a world medical congress in town and prices are triple or more. The hotel I reserved for the beginning of the trip for €68 a night was charging close to €250 at the end of the trip, for the same room. They have you and they know it.

UPDATE to everyone that was so helpful:

After a bunch of research I now have:
A Hotel Reservation in Zaragoza - refundable until 5/16
A VRBO Reservation in Toledo - refundable until 5/1
A Parador Available but not booked yet in Segovia

No matter where we stay, we will have to take a car service to the airport which we are just fine with since we are saving so much money by not staying in Madrid.

I am leaning towards Toledo. My husband just wants to make the right choice. It's only 1.5 days.

I love all the great advice you all gave me.

Would have liked to switch to Lisbon but non-changeable plane ticket. Cannot switch around Seville etc. All bookings made moving through Andalucia starting in Granada etc.

Thanks!

Zaragoza is over 2 hours away from airport. Not sure if you are asking for recommendations, but as you have a bit of time, I would choose either Toledo or Segovia depending on from where you can get a dependable driver.
Here's a question, as it is 'in country' what about a one way car rental and drive yourself?

Maria's making a good point. The cost of the car service will probably be highly distance-dependent. You will pay for the round-trip, so there will be double impact. A quick look at ViaMichelin shows these one-way distances for the fastest route given:

Toledo: 52 miles
Segovia: 64 miles
Zaragoza: 184 miles (eek!)

I liked all of those cities, but Toledo is my favorite, for sure. However, with what you've already been through, I might be a bit gun-shy about a VRBO rental, as opposed to a hotel room.

I have no idea how much a car-service will charge from Toledo, but I fear it will be a really substantial amount of money. It's unfortunate that the lodging situation is so tight and you are not finding options with friendlier cancelation clauses. It limits your ability to keep shopping around as teams drop out of the play-offs (or whatever is happening).

Another minor consideration might be the travel from Sevilla on 31/5. I might have this wrong, so do check, but I think trains from Madrid to Toledo depart from Atocha, which is the same station as your train from Sevilla arrives at. Whilst some trains from Madrid to Segovia depart from Chamartin, so you would need to cross Madrid for the connection.

I'd be a bit gun shy about the VRBO in Toledo but it looks like your best option in terms of getting to Madrid. The parador in Segovia sounds better but you'd have to change from a commuter train to the metro to get to the airport. So I'd go with the VRBO.

Regarding car service: we are looking at a car service from Madrid airport to Toledo for 4 people/4 bags and received a quote from Welcome Pickups for 117€. If you end up using a service, I’d love to hear how it goes. Our trip is in November.

Thanks Travel4fun. We actually booked with "Shuttle Direct". It is $126 for the two of us from Toledo to Madrid Airport. I will report to you when I return as to how that transfer worked out. We wanted to be sure to have something booked way in advance.

And to EVERYONE with your suggestions: We decided to avoid Madrid altogether due to the Soccer match. We will arrive from Seville in Madrid on the 31st and already have our ticket to Toledo to stay in Atocha and just switch trains. (Not taking any chances). Everyone's suggestions were very helpful in my decision making. We found a reasonably priced hotel in Toledo that we think will be fine. (It's $360 for two nights during this tournament and normally $100 so they are gouging too) We'll have to go back again another time.

Toledo is a great destination.