La catedral está a quinientos metros del hotel.

Spanish uses estar for location, so La catedral está... is the normal way to say where something is.

• ser = identity, what something is
• estar = location, state, condition

So:

• La catedral es famosa = the cathedral is famous
• La catedral está en el centro = the cathedral is in the city centre

In this sentence, the cathedral’s location is being described, so está is correct.

Here, a is used in Spanish to express distance from a point.

So the pattern is:

• estar a + distance + de = to be at a distance of ... from

Examples:

• Está a dos kilómetros de aquí.
• La estación está a diez minutos del museo.

This a does not literally mean just one English word in every case; it is simply part of the Spanish structure for giving distance.

Because de + el contracts to del in Spanish.

So:

• de + el = del
• a + el = al

That means:

• del hotel = de el hotel
• al hotel = a el hotel

One important exception: if el is part of a proper name, you do not contract it.

For example:

• de El Escorial (not del Escorial if El is part of the official name)

But in del hotel, it is the normal article el, so the contraction is required.

Quinientos is the masculine plural form of five hundred, and it agrees with metros, which is a masculine plural noun.

• quinientos metros
• quinientas personas

Some hundreds in Spanish change form for gender:

• doscientos / doscientas
• trescientos / trescientas
• cuatrocientos / cuatrocientas
• quinientos / quinientas

So here:

• metros = masculine plural
• therefore quinientos is the correct form

Spanish uses definite articles more often than English does.

• La catedral = the cathedral
• el hotel = the hotel

In Spanish, it is very normal to mention places and buildings with the article when they are specific or understood in context.

A native English speaker may want to drop the article, but in Spanish that usually sounds incomplete or unnatural in sentences like this.

The most neutral word order is exactly the one in the sentence:

• La catedral está a quinientos metros del hotel.

Spanish word order is somewhat flexible, but this version is the most natural in ordinary speech.

You may also hear variations for emphasis, such as:

• A quinientos metros del hotel está la catedral.

That sounds more marked or literary, or it may be used to emphasise the distance/location first. For a learner, the original order is the safest and most useful.

Usually, not in this structure.

With distance, Spanish normally uses:

• a ... de
  or, after contraction,
• a ... del

So:

• La catedral está a quinientos metros del hotel.

This means the cathedral is five hundred metres from the hotel.

Desde often means from in the sense of starting point or since, but it is not the usual choice in this fixed distance pattern.

Natural:

• Está a quinientos metros del hotel.

Less natural here:

• Está a quinientos metros desde el hotel.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

• La catedral ≈ la ka-te-DRAL
• está ≈ es-TA
• a ≈ a
• quinientos ≈ kee-NYEN-tos
• metros ≈ ME-tros
• del hotel ≈ del o-TEL

A fuller guide for Spain Spanish:

• c before a in catedral sounds like k
• qu in quinientos also sounds like k
• ie in quinientos is a diphthong, so it flows together
• the h in hotel is silent
• the stress is on:
  • catedrál
  • está
  • quiniéntos
  • métros
  • hotél

In connected speech, de el becomes del, and the sentence flows quite smoothly: La catedral está a quinientos metros del hotel.

A common way is:

• ¿A cuántos metros del hotel está la catedral?

This literally follows the same structure as the statement:

• está a quinientos metros del hotel
• ¿a cuántos metros del hotel está...?

You could also ask more generally:

• ¿Dónde está la catedral? if you just want the location
• ¿Está lejos la catedral del hotel? if you want to know whether it is far

It would be un metro.

Before a masculine singular noun, uno changes to un:

• un metro
• un hotel
• un kilómetro

Examples:

• Está a un metro de la puerta.
• Está a un kilómetro del centro.

You use uno when the number stands alone, not directly before a masculine singular noun.