Hotel or Airbnb in Madrid?

Hostal Acapulco is a small, family run "hostal" (not a "hostel") that is about an eight minute walk from Plaza Mayor. It is close to two metro stops. I've stayed here twice (September 2017 and February 2018) and have been very pleased both times. The rooms are spotlessly clean and have private bathrooms, air conditioning, television and a mini-fridge....and the two different rooms that I stayed in also had a very small balcony. As a female traveling with other female friends, I have always felt safe at Hostal Acapulco. Both times I booked directly through their website and any questions that I had were answered quickly by Javier. I would stay there again if I go back to Madrid some day.

we stayed in an amazing 2 br apartment in La Latina. (that was also the name of the apartment) Easy walk to Puerto del Sol, Plaza Mayor. Although we didn't walk to Retiro (we took the bus) our travel pals did. We rented through a company called Mad4Rent and had a very positive experience. If we go back to Madrid, I would look to stay in this neighbourhood again - one block west of Calle Toledo. Tons of bars and shops, near metro stop Latina, easy walk to most sights. We LOVED this neighbourhood - we felt like locals!

Just us, but our breakeven for apartment vs hotel is about 4 nights and isn't really city specific. We figure we need to be there that long to need the space, compensate for extra effort coordinating entry/exit, and take full advantage of cooking and laundry (if equipped) facilities.. There were a few hotels in Rick's book that we would have liked to try but we were there too long (for us) for a hotel room so got a real nice airbnb 3 blocks from Plaza Mayor.

If you are looking for moderate to budget friendly priced places I have two suggestions. As suggested by a previous poster, Hostal Acapulco is a good place to stay. Over the past fifteen years, I have stayed there three times and my young adult kids have stayed there several times. It is a small hostal with just a few rooms, not a youth hostel. It is up a few floors in a building, not too far from Plaza del Sol and Gran Vía. Also very easy walk from there to Plaza Mayor and Mercado San Miguel area. You would have to take the subway over to the Prado/El Retiro park area. The building has a very small elevator if steps are a problem. No breakfast provided. Our rooms were fine. On a trip this past March I stayed twice at Hotel MedioDía. It is directly across from Atocha train station and shares a plaza with the Reina Sofía art museum. Also very close to El Prado and close to El Retiro park. There is a subway station right next to the hotel. You could walk to Plaza Mayor from there but subway is right there. Breakfast is offered here. We were completely satisfied with our room, bathroom and location. We chose this location because we were travelling by train. It is a large hotel and there were lots of different tour groups staying there.