The Palace, Luxurious Assortment Resort, Madrid evaluation

When it opened in 1912 beneath the auspices of King Alfonso XIII, Madrid’s Palace Resort was among the many largest and most trendy resorts in all of Europe. It was the primary in Spain to supply a personal toilet and a phone in each room.

It has additionally been a favourite amongst factors vacationers for over 20 years now. Again within the early days of TPG, founder Brian Kelly would often go to the lodge, which was a Westin on the time, since he may earn and redeem Starwood Most popular Visitor factors. (A second of silence for SPG, which has since change into a part of Marriott Bonvoy.)

Now, the lodge has joined Marriott’s Luxurious Assortment and is wanting as spectacular as ever because of a sweeping two-year, 90 million-euro ($105 million) renovation that has restored a lot of its grandeur. Although the spectacular facade seems a lot the identical, discerning eyes will discover a brand new terra-cotta coloration highlighting its floral stucco adornments which can be true to the constructing’s unique look, amongst different notable modifications.

I ended by simply earlier than the top of 2025 to see all of the modifications for myself, and I can as soon as once more say that that is considered one of my prime factors lodge suggestions in Europe.

Here is what’s in retailer for you in your subsequent keep at The Palace, a Luxurious Assortment Resort, Madrid.

Palace Madrid location

The Palace, a Luxurious Assortment Resort, Madrid is within the Spanish capital’s Golden Triangle. It’s throughout the road from the Prado museum and down the block from the Thyssen-Bornemisza Nationwide Museum. The central Puerta del Sol is a 10-minute stroll away, and lots of the metropolis’s different monuments are inside simple strolling distance.

The drive to or from Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas Worldwide Airport (MAD) takes between 25 and 40 minutes, relying on site visitors, and it prices about 30 euros ($35). The lodge can be close to a number of main metro traces.

Standout options

• It presents a superb location for each enterprise and leisure vacationers.
• Spacious visitor rooms have lovely new furnishings.
• The lodge’s eating venue, La Cupula Restaurant and Bar, continues to be the place to see and be seen.

Drawbacks

• For a lodge this measurement, there might be extra bars and eating places.
• Room charges may be astronomical in the course of the busy summer season months.
• The lodge has 470 rooms and suites, so you will not get that “boutique” really feel right here.

Palace Madrid rooms and suites

Rooms on the lodge overlook both the central courtyard, the Plaza de las Cortes, the Plaza de Canovas del Castillo (with the well-known Neptune Fountain) or a facet avenue.

My Palace Suite was at one of many corners of the fourth flooring, so it was a hike from the elevators. That simply meant the situation was extremely quiet, although.

At 613 sq. ft, it felt positively palatial, which appeared significantly applicable given the lodge is known as the Palace.

Lazaro Rosa-Violan Studio oversaw the redecoration of the lodge’s lodging. The studio’s different tasks embrace Barcelona’s Cotton Home and Version resorts (each additionally a part of Marriott).

The brand new look is smooth but homey. My front room featured stylish parquet wood flooring and a fake marble hearth beneath the wall-mounted flat-screen tv. It additionally had a easy, rounded sectional framed by an outsized panorama print and a gorgeous marble-topped espresso desk.

I particularly favored the inexperienced velvet throw pillows and tufted stool with gold fringing. They gave the room a regal however cheeky tone.

By way of the doorway, the bed room held a tidy king-size mattress; its wooden and leather-based headboard referenced conventional Castilian wood- and leather-working. In the meantime the hand-painted tree motifs on the wallpaper behind it alluded to the leafy pathways of close by El Retiro Park in addition to Spain’s Royal Tapestry Manufacturing unit. This was all framed by intricate crown molding.

Although small, the closet had sufficient house for my huge suitcase and held two hanging racks plus drawers.

The lavatory was clad in cream- and brown-toned marble — a holdover from the lodge’s former look. Nonetheless, it featured new brass lighting fixtures and taps and, much more eye-catching, there was a tiled backsplash of blue and white Talavera tiles depicting an aerial view of the Royal Botanical Gardens.

There was additionally a walk-in bathe and loads of Le Chemin by Byredo merchandise for hair and pores and skin available.

The general aesthetic of the room felt recent and enjoyable, with intelligent however not cloying nods to the lodge’s royal pedigree.

Palace Madrid eating places and bars

The Palace presently has two open eating places and bars.

La Cupula

The primary hub of the lodge is its central restaurant, La Cupula, which is called for the breathtaking stained-glass dome that crowns it.

Initially designed by Eduard Ferres i Puig and manufactured by Maumejean Brothers studio, which additionally helped create a few of the stained-glass masterpieces at Barcelona’s Basilica de la Sagrada Familia. All 1,875 of the dome’s glass panes have been painstakingly restored and reassembled to unimaginable impact.

The house additionally feels brisker now, because of a multisided marble bar overhung by a palm-shaped brass and crystal chandelier. Former friends would possibly acknowledge it from its prior placement within the reception space — although it was initially in La Cupula.

The restaurant is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, so that you’re prone to have a meal or two right here. The breakfast buffet ($53 per individual) is completely luxurious, with loads of recent fruit, house-made pastries and Iberian specialties together with varied cheeses, cuts of meat and extra. You may also order from a collection of scorching drinks and egg dishes.

As for the opposite meals, you may discover artistic takes on Spanish dishes and different continental classics courtesy of chef Nuno Matos, corresponding to cod “churros” with peri peri seaweed salt ($16) and cured scallops with cauliflower cream and nut French dressing ($25). Plus, there are tried-and-true dishes like a juicy beef Wellington ($101).

27 Membership

Named after the era of intellectuals who as soon as frequented it, 27 Membership is the lodge’s cozy, wood-paneled lounge (with its personal etched-glass ceiling). It is adorned with varied sketches and letters from luminaries corresponding to Federico Garcia Lorca and Pablo Picasso.

Along with small bites like conventional tortilla ($14) and varied caviar choices, the bar presents a slate of Prohibition-inspired cocktails like a 1912 John Collins with Tanqueray gin, chamomile, lemon and pomegranate ($24).

Palace Madrid facilities and repair

Up on the seventh and prime flooring, accessible through its personal elevator, the lodge has a spa with a single therapy room for experiences that make the most of Twelve Magnificence and Nescens merchandise. It additionally presents a small fitness center with weights and Technogym cardio gear.

For enterprise vacationers or these planning an occasion, the lodge’s occasion areas on the bottom flooring adjoining to La Cupula have additionally been gorgeously restored and are available in quite a lot of sizes.

For a lodge this massive, the service is refreshingly heat and customized. Doormen are all the time available to assist with baggage (or simply buying luggage), and the front-desk and concierge workers can assist with all the things from last-minute restaurant reservations to recommendation on essentially the most fascinating museums to go to.

Palace Madrid accessibility

Regardless of its historic structure, the Palace Madrid is absolutely accessible. Public areas are all wheelchair-friendly because of ramps and elevators; nevertheless, the hallways to a few of the lodging or to the health middle may be very lengthy.

The lodge presents wheelchair-accessible lodging within the Deluxe, Premium and Palace room classes in addition to within the Palace Suite. As all the time, contact the lodge straight to make sure that its areas and lodging meet your particular accessibility necessities.

Palace Madrid reserving particulars

The Palace, a Luxurious Assortment Resort, Madrid has a whopping 470 rooms and suites, occupies the higher a part of a metropolis block and has over a dozen classes of rooms and suites.

These within the Deluxe class begin at 300 euros ($352) or 56,000 Marriott Bonvoy factors per night time. The Palace Suite I stayed in (which missed a facet avenue and a close-by church) begins at about 266,000 Marriott Bonvoy factors or 1,011 euros ($1,188 per night time).

To take advantage of your keep, think about the next Marriott Bonvoy cobranded playing cards:

All of them have profitable welcome presents, confer computerized elite standing and supply elevated incomes charges at Marriott properties.

Alternatively, you may switch Final Rewards factors earned on playing cards just like the Chase Sapphire Most popular® Card (see charges and costs) on to Marriott Bonvoy at a 1:1 ratio, which can put an award keep inside attain.

The lodge is a part of American Specific High-quality Motels + Resorts. So, when you’ve got American Specific Platinum Card® or The Enterprise Platinum Card® from American Specific, you may make a reserving by means of the Amex journey web site and obtain perks like availability-based upgrades, as much as a $100 credit score to make use of on-property throughout your keep for issues like drinks or meals, complimentary day by day breakfast for 2, and assured 4 p.m. late checkout.

Trying out

After a two-year, top-to-toe renovation, the Palace, a Luxurious Assortment Resort, Madrid, is wanting as spectacular as ever. It boasts really grand public areas and rooms that really feel uniquely madrileño because of artistic touches like botanical-themed wallpaper and people Talavera tiles within the toilet.

With charges that begin at lower than 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy factors per night time, the lodge additionally occurs to be an distinctive worth for factors vacationers who need an upscale expertise within the coronary heart of the Spanish capital.

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