Petit Palace Embassy, Madrid
The deal: €171 ($216) for a "High Tech" double (prices can rise during city events)
The hood: The fashionable Salamanca neighborhood, Madrid's epicenter of haute couture.
What you'll get: A high-tech room behind a reassuringly staid façade. Opened in the summer of 2005, this six-story 19th-century building is a new entry from High Tech, a young chain that's rapidly taking over Madrid. The 75 rooms are proudly wired, with free Internet on the in-room computers, flat-screen satellite TVs, and the group's signature whizbang shower units with hydro-massage and built-in sauna. Many also have in-room stationary bikes so you can sweat while you surf.
Near and not so dear: You're here, so you may as well give it a try: Spain's most famous bullring, Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas, is a 20-minute walk away. The €8 nosebleed seats (in the sun) will buy you hours of pageantry, drama, and frenzied fandom.

Petit Palace Embassy
46 Calle Serrano
Tel: 34 914 313 060
Fax: 34 914 313 062
Email: embassy@hthoteles.com

Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas
237 Calle Alcalé
Tel: 34 91 356 2200