The Palace Hotel, Madrid

Manhattan. Madrid. Marrakech. This was the MM family Summer Holiday 2010 itinerary. After an uneventful flight from New York to Madrid, we cleared customs in the early morning hours and made a beeline for our hotel downtown. The Palace Hotel would be our home for the next week or so, and it was wonderful, if a bit on the “establishment” side… Several months prior to our trip, we had been scouting around for a nice hotel, and contacted several mid-to upper-range boutique hotels which all turned out to be unable to accommodate us. This was before that unpronounceable Icelandic volcano blew up and seriously affected the European tourist season this spring/summer. So a bit concerned that we had no confirmed hotel reservations, we decided to pick one of the larger and generally well thought off hotels in Madrid, right in the heart of the Museum district. This turned out to be a terrific choice, as the Teen was hobbling around in an aircast after breaking a bone in her foot a few days before the trip…

Located at the Plaza de las Cortes, across the street from the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, the Ritz Hotel and a stone’s throw from the Prado museum, this disarmingly large hotel took up a cake wedge shaped city block with avenues and streets on all sides. With just 8 or 9 floors and nearly 500 rooms, this is supposed to be the less flashy sidekick to the Hotel Ritz just across the circle. Some friends from the Spanish diplomatic core described The Ritz as the place “you booked the celebrities and Presidents of (less powerful left unsaid) nations while the Ministers and less flashy guests were checked into The Palace…” I smiled when they related this unsolicited tidbit, as unbeknownst to them while they were on assignment in South America, GMA had just recently been to Spain, and her party of 50+ mostly booked themselves at the Ritz. :)

Selected as one of the Best Hotels in World 2010 by Conde Nast Traveler (not necessarily a list I agree with all of the time), it must have still been snazzy enough to attract some unnamed celebrities as the front of the hotel was covered by a pack of papparazzi during the first two days of our stay. I pointed them out to the Teen, who had never seen papparazzi before, and frankly, I would hate to be the subject of their telephoto lenses, total overkill since they were positioned just 5 meters away from the main entrance of the hotel. Tight lipped hotel staff never let on who the celebrity guests were and we never shared tight elevator space with anyone notorious…

The lobby and other public areas were a bit dated, and boring despite the detailing, and it felt a bit too public what with several function rooms constantly playing host to one large meeting after another. The exception was the dining area under the massive glass dome (of which I don’t have a picture) that was pretty impressive. The hotel, built in 1912, is 98 years old, and I suspect glass domes were a big deal in the early 20th century. The center of the triangular city block was open air I gather, so all hotel rooms had windows with external light…

The hotel had some of the widest hallways I have seen, you almost got the feeling they were designed that way so that two sets of couples walking towards each other would have sufficient room to pass, a four lane pedestrian way, if you will. And billowing skirts on the women taken into account as well.

Our room was terrific. A result of using American Express to reserve it, as well as the relatively long stay, the early confirmation and full advance payment, they upgraded us to one of the nicest rooms in that category, a Junior Suite with an entry hallway, large sitting room, comfortable bedroom, a separate dressing room and enormous bathroom. It was easily bigger than two standard hotel rooms, and cost less than that. Several huge windows in our suite faced a nearby church.

Classic furnishings, several televisions, good lighting all made for an extremely comfortable stay for three of us.

An extra roll-away bed was brought in for The Teen. Breakfasts featured a huge continental buffet and all was indeed well and good on the accommodation front…

I am not sure what it is about properly outfitted hotel rooms, but they are so quiet and conducive to simply vegetating… Just when you are supposed to get out there and see the sights…

The bathroom in this near corner rooms was simply enormous. Double sinks, large bathtub, separate toilet and shower and a long corridor to link it all.

The only serious downside? Euro18 a day ($22!) for internet connection PER computer. That was simply outrageous. At a Starbucks around the corner, we only had to purchase Euro 3 worth of coffee and snacks each to get free internet access… So you can guess how we managed to go online while in Madrid! And with a view of this spectacular fountain and rotunda while you sipped your coffee or tea, we all thought THAT was a good deal. :)