Only You Boutique Hotel Madrid {Review}

Certainly quirky, yet undeniably classy, Madrid's Only You Boutique Hotel is fun headquarters for your time in Madrid's fashion-forward capital city.

Disclosure: some of the links below are affiliate links. If you purchase a linked item, I will make a commission, at no extra charge to you. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Finding a hotel in Madrid

Picking a hotel in Madrid is a fun, if a tad overwhelming, endeavor. Spain's capital city offers more than its fair share of nice hotels, all vying for the custom of the millions of tourists who flock to Spain throughout the year.

If you've spent time at hotels in Europe's other major capital cities, I strongly suspect that you'll be pleasantly surprised with the prices here in Madrid.

Maps of Madrid in our room at the Only You Boutique Hotel, Madrid

Spain's Royal Palace in Madrid

Madrid's "historic centre" as it's invariably called, is easily walkable for tourists, so you really can't go wrong with a hotel relatively close to the heart of things. We generally like to be slightly away from the absolute middle, to escape at least some of the hustle and bustle in the evenings. 

For the 10 Things You Need to Know About Madrid, including major tourists sites you'll want to visit, check out the full post!

Lobby, Only You Boutique Hotel, Madrid

Only You Boutique Hotel

From the minute you set foot in the Only You Boutique Hotel, you'll immediately get a sense that it's a different kind of space. A hotel making an artistic effort on every level - to go above and beyond what most people "expect" from a tourist hotel. And, truly, they've succeeded. We all can suffer from a bit of hotel fatigue, and it's fun to be at a place that's trying to shake things up!

The brand has two hotels in Madrid. We stayed at the "Only You Boutique Hotel," near Chueca, and there's also the Only You Hotel Atocha, which is farther south, across from Puerta de Atocha (the city's major train station). If you're choosing between the two, I'd recommend the Boutique Hotel, as the location is significantly quieter, and convenient because you're already reading a review of it! 

And yes, before moving on, we should admit, it's a bit of an obscure name choice. Meant to imply personalization, it takes some getting used to, as it doesn't quite roll off the tongue. But, once you get past it, I promise you'll be singing Only You's praises (I've decided to leave the YOU capitalization off, for ease of reading...)

As you can see from this selection of photos, the Only You Boutique Hotel's lobby is phenomenal - with a number of artistically designed seating areas, beyond just the restaurants (though you can generally find a drink anywhere - isn't Spain great!). How about that chinoiserie elevator? As you can tell, we visited in late December, over the holidays, which was really a great time to explore Madrid. If you'll be visiting Spain in winter, check out What to Wear in Spain in Winter, for all of your packing essentials!

Overall, I was delighted with the attentive service at the Only You Boutique Hotel, especially as it was the holidays, and also by the sheer number of workers efficiently bustling around the relatively compact spot. The hotel was simply teeming with guests, employees, and visitors (though admittedly I took these snaps early in the morning to try to evade them!)

Only You Boutique Hotel: Location

In addition to its quirky decor, Only You's Chueca location, slightly north of the main tourist areas (Plaza Mayor, Retiro Park, and Gran Via) and not far from the city's main, high-end shopping area, is reason enough to make it your home base for your time in Madrid. You'll walk right past Only You's main competitor, The Principal Madrid, which is in the photo below, directly across from the iconic Edificio Metropolis. The minute you turn off Gran Via, the neighborhood starts calming down and the crowds immediately melt away.

Chueca proper is Madrid's gay district, and whether you stay at Only You or not, it's certainly worth coming up there to see a bit of the "everyday" city, off of the tourist circuit. Fun restaurants, boutique shopping, and rainbows around every corner! Trust me, you'll know if you're in the right metro station!

Edificio Metropolis

Mercado de San Anton

​Only You Boutique Hotel: Food & Drink

Only You Boutique Hotel has several nice food and beverage offerings, in addition to its convenient location in the centre of a good number more.

​For breakfast, lunch and dinner, in addition to a small bar, there's the "main" lounge, nestled next tot the check-in desk. We popped by for a delicious (free) breakfast, since our room wasn't ready yet when we arrived, so I got some delicious cheese, cucumbers, and my first jamon, to start off our visit to Spain! Not to mention this mug...

In the front of the hotel, is main tapas bar, El Padrino, which had a surprisingly local clientele, for a hotel. It gets fairly crowded in the evenings, but if you're on an American schedule, like us, you can beat the crowds ;) There's also a full restaurant, though I can't offer commentary on it, as we never actually made it there! For more on Spain dining habits (including how late dinner is truly served), check out 10 Common Tourist Mistakes in Spain.

Lovely tables: barrels of my new favorite wine, Marques de Riscal

​Of course, Only You offers room service. We generally aren't huge room service people, but when cava shows up on New Year's Eve, I'm a very happy lady!

​Only You Boutique Hotel: Room

I was happy with our premium room at the Only You Boutique Hotel. It has two small closets, a nice (comfy) bed, and notably windows that actually opened (which is important, as we visited in December and were on the verge of burning up indoors, due to different cultural heating expectations!). We had a TV with a wide variety of channels, including a few in English, which worked out well for me.

I neglected to take a picture, but the bathroom was nice and new, had sufficient counter space, and a door to the toilet/shower area. However, my only real complaint from our stay was the seemingly ubiquitous shower flooding issue that has taken hold in hotels across Europe. So make those showers quick, or you'll be  wiping up a flood!

Premium Room: Only You Boutique Hotel Madrid

Premium Room: Only You Boutique Hotel Madrid

As always, we opted to go one level above the "basic" hotel room, as European hotel rooms are notoriously small. In the premium room, we had a small desk with a chair for my husband to sit in while I get dressed, which is all we really need!

For more on selecting hotels in Europe, check out the full post. And if this is your first trip to Europe, be sure to read my First Timer's Guide to Europe!

​Only You Boutique Hotel: Amenities

In addition to what we've discussed, the Only You Boutique Hotel also offers delicious-smelling toiletries (a must!), giraffe-print bathrobes (why not!), and espresso and small snacks in the lobby, in addition to the in-room coffee/tea facilities.

Thanks for stopping by!

I hope you enjoy your trip to Madrid! It's a charming city, with so much to offer. If you'll be heading over to Barcelona, check out my review of the Hotel Mercer Barcelona, nestled into Barcelona's Roman fortifications (you read that correctly!)

And don't forget to subscribe to the blog emails, below, for my free, downloadable carry-on packing guide for Europe!

Love it? Pin it!