My wife and I will be completing the 14 day RS tour of Spain in October 2025 in Sevilla on Sunday. We thought about catching the train right after breakfast to Madrid and then heading directly to the airport for a non-stop flight back to NJ, but we are now leaning toward spending the afternoon and night in Madrid near the train station and getting a fresh start in the morning. Can anyone recommend hotels that are in walking distance, say within 1/2 mile from the station? Or should we not be limiting ourselves to the Atocha neighborhood and stay elsewhere for the night, relying instead on taxis to get back and forth between the RR station, hotel, and airport?
Radisson RED is pretty nice.
I do like the area, but you might want to stay north of the ronda de Atocha. It's a bit more lively and has more restaurants/bars/etc.
In 2016, we stayed at the Hotel Artrip, which is currently the #13 Madrid hotel on Trip Advisor. Someone on this Forum recommended it to me. Great little hotel in an eclectic neighborhood. It's barely a 15 minute walk to Atocha, with luggage and hangovers.
Madrid has two main stations: Madrid Atocha and Madrid Chamartin.
Assuming you are referring to Atocha, note that the area around the station
is/has been under construction for a while. Entrance & exit has been through
doors on the sides of the station, which increases the walking distance.
Having said that, I would say that the area around the train station is just fine
and for one night, you will have many choices amongst perfectly adequate
hotels. I usually stay at the Mediodia; nothing spectacular about it but the
price is usually pretty good, the room is clean, and the location is excellent.
You are right next door to the Reina Sofia museum and across the street from
Atocha.
If you were planning to stay more than one night, I think there would be other
recommendations, but for that length of stay, convenience is as important as
comfort.