A Guide to Hotels in Madrid's Golden Triangle

The Museo del Prado comprises the famed Golden Triangle, along with the Reina Sofía National Museum and Art Center and the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum of Art. The presence of those art museums and the city's huge green space of El Retiro park, makes the Prado area a prime location for tourists to stay when visiting Madrid. The neighborhood offers its guests a variety of upscale, mid-range and budget lodgings from which to choose.

Getting Around
The neighborhood around the Golden Triangle is well-serviced by Madrid's metro system, granting ready access to the rest of the city. The red line runs through the north end of the area, the blue line across its western side, and the purple line station of Ibizia lies on the far side of El Retiro park to the east. The Madrid metro charges fares on a zonal system, with the entire downtown area located inside Zone A.

AC Palacio del Retiro
A New York Times Travel Pick and Fodor's Choice hotel, the AC Palacio del Retiro is a boutique hotel set in an early 20th century palace facing its namesake park and located about half a mile from the Prado. The hotel combines some of the building's original fittings, such as the fountains decorated with ceramics from Talavera and the stained glass windows from Paris, with thoroughly contemporary, Euro-modern furnishings. The result is a stylish, upscale hotel with spacious rooms, each of which has a splendid view of El Retiro.

Hotal Residencia Don Diego
Decorated in a simple, contemporary fashion, the unpretentious Hostal Residencia Don Diego offers rooms that are compact, comfortable and spotless. The hotel is set on a quiet, tree-lined street situated a mile north of the Museo del Prado, a central location for exploring both El Retiro and Madrid as a whole. Frommer's described the hotel as "one of Madrid's best value hotels," making it a sound choice for bargain hunters looking for accommodations in the Golden Triangle area.

NH Alcala
This outpost of the middle-to-upscale NH chain is a neighborhood institution and across from the northeast corner of El Retiro, roughly one mile from the Golden Triangle. The decor features functional, Euro-modern style furnishings alongside older features, such as the building's original wood floors. Some of the rooms overlook the hotel's garden patio, while others command views of the park, and on every floor is one room individually decorated by one of Spain's top designers. For visitors in Madrid on business, the hotel comes with four meeting rooms.

Sources: frommers.com/destinations/madrid/H24800.html; frommers.com/destinations/madrid/0056020156.html; fodors.com/world/europe/spain/madrid/review-181718.html; metromadrid.es/en/viaja_en_metro/red_de_metro/planos/index.html