Last night in Spain before flying back to US - Alcalá de Henares?

When is your trip? Mine is in May, and that is exactly what I am considering doing. My one conundrum is the covid test. I can't decide if I want to carry a proctored test and do it myself (worry about wifi as I'll be in an apartment in a small town prior to Alcala), or drop the car a day early, stay in Madrid and go to a pharmacy.
I need to find out definitively which tests work with an iphone, as I don't want to bring an ipad or laptop.

I like the idea. It’s close to the airport and on the same side of Madrid, so dropping off the rental car should be easy. We almost arranged that for our upcoming trip, but my wife wanted to dine at Sobrino de Botín, so we’re dropping off the car and staying in Madrid the last couple nights. The rental car return is right at the terminal (unless something has changed since 2017) so not a lot of extra time is needed. As many times as I’ve rented a car in Spain I always seem to miss the rental return sign and have to loop around again. Unless things have changed, the return sign isn’t overly large and easy to miss.

I enjoyed a day trip to Alcala in 2016 and plan to spend a couple of nights there the next time I'm in that part of Spain. I found it very attractive.

We stay at the Hilton Madrid Airport, a mere 3.3 km from MAD. Then we Uber to Baccaruda, a fantastic little restaurant in the Barajas district 5 min from the Hilton. Take the airport shuttle in the morning and you've had a great last night in Spain before going home.

Sorry I got the name wrong, a little dyslexia here apparently. It's called Barracruda, here's their website: https://www.barracruda.es/?lang=en

Thanks to everyone for your responces - I'll be booking the parador and enjoying a last night in Spain with a pasaeo in Alcalá de Henares.

We’ve got reservations at that Parador for our upcoming trip. It seems to be in a good location for “dando un paseo.” Enjoy your trip.

Is there a hotel inside or adjacent to the Madrid airport? Or just the options close by that offer shuttle service to the airport?

@sqmeyers. There is a hotel in one of the Terminals and many in the nearby suburb (Barajas). Last month I stayed at the Sercohotel and it was terrific (price, breakfast and shuttle to airport (I did not shuttle to the hotel due to my late arrival). My posting re: Alcalá de Henares was in part due to my interest in finding one last dinner y paseo prior to returning to the US. Since our flight departs at 13:00 we can enjoy one more evening in Spain (AdH is a really nice small city and often overlooked due to its proximity to Madrid) versus an "airport stay".

I just returned and Alcala de Henares was indeed a nice place to spend the last night. I just wish we had had more time, as we came all the way from Caceres and had to fiddle with covid testing and just did not have the time we would have liked to explore. Just walking the town and enjoying how vibrant it was was very pleasant. We dined at Hostaria Estudiante, which I recommend. Tons of places in old town as well.
You sound like you have plenty of experience driving in Madrid and around the airport, so you'll be fine--that was the only issue we had and we cut it way too close in the morning. I'll probably use a connecting flight next time, or use train and then drive, as driving to MAD was a misery.

@ valadelphia thanks for your follow up. You're the second Forum member who has let me know that AdH worked out well for their last night in Spain before the departure from MAD. I wish you many safe travels in the future.