The Westin Palace Hotel, Madrid....As Sumptuous As Its Name Suggests
Written: Dec 28 '07 (Updated Dec 28 '07)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Grand old hotel with magnificent public spaces, pleasant room with good view
Cons: Possibly not as smart as the Ritz, but every bit as grand
The Bottom Line: The Palace and the Ritz stare at each other across the park in the heart of old Madrid. You could do as well at either one.
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| tombarnes's Full Review: Lc The Westin Palace Madrid |
The Palace Hotel was built in 1912 by King Alfonso XIII in part to house visitors for the wedding of his daughter. Not a bad job at all for a little guest house. The hotel is laid out on a colossal scale. From the magnificent entry hall with its Pompeiian murals to the stupendous grand court with its stained glass dome, you will find it hard not to be impressed in some way by the ambitious interiors of the Palace. Artur Rubinstein once played a grand piano in the lobby, but my efforts to find the piano were in vain. Its replacement is one of those modern things which plays automatically. I don't think Rubinstein would approve.
Room
We were given an upgrade from what might well have been a broom closet. The new room, No. 433, overlooked the Neptune Fountain and the Ritz across the park. The furniture within could bring a frown to the face of many a guest. I've got a soft spot for dated hotel furniture, so the reconditioned older pieces didn't bother me a bit. The mattresses on the sedate old wood frames were as comfortable as any I've had elsewhere and the beds had been fitted with good linen. More than anything else in the room, the paneled and mirrored closets lent distinction to what otherwise might have been a plain white room. Exceptionally high ceilings and an arched French window also lifted the room from the realm of the everyday. The furniture in our room also didn't look too much like what's pictured on the hotel's web site, leading me to guess that not all of their rooms have been renovated. There was nothing uncared for or shabby, however, in the appointments of our room.
I didn't get a suite, but rest assured that the suites here, even the junior suites, are palatial indeed. Little expense has been spared in the redecoration of the hotel to pull it by its bootstraps into the new century.
Bath
If they haven't touched the rooms much, they have certainly paid attention to the baths. Ours was freshly rejuvenated and immaculate to boot. The marketers from Westin have been busy plastering the word "Heavenly" to everything in or about their rooms and baths. After a long day of travel, I had to agree that there was something ethereal about the deep marble tub and the generous supply of bath salts provided on the counter.
Hallways
Hallways in a hotel review? When is a walk to your hotel room more than just another trudge through featureless corridors? An odd inclusion, but one worth noting in this case. The hotel's trapezoidal plan makes for rather long hallways and long walks to your room in most cases. To liven up things a bit, the hotel's hallways are wide, almost concourses, and the elevator lobbies are richly furnished with comfortable couches and other furniture- just in case you are tired after the walk from your room before proceeding to the lobby on the elevator. The walls surrounding the doors have also been slathered with jade green marble and the hallways nearly undulate with rich carpets.
Dining
We didn't do much more than dinner in the bar here at night, but in the morning we took advantage of the extravagant breakfast buffet served in the magnificence of La Rotonda. In addition to being almost ridiculously plentiful, the buffet is just off the stunning centerpiece of the hotel, the great rotunda with its stained glass dome. Not cheap, this, but almost worth the nearly $50.00 each we paid. Of course, the exchange rate was not working in our favor.
Had we remembered the late dining habits of Madrilenos, we might have ducked into the alluring and well regarded Asia Gallery or had dinner in the main restaurant (see above). The hotel was jumping with diners in almost every private dining hall and banquet room in the place. As it was, we were too tired to fully participate in the doings of the hotel after what had been an exhausting day.
Bar
The bar is an odd room just off the rotunda. Rather than reflecting the fairly swish renovation program of the rest of the hotel, the bar seems oddly stuck in time- like a frumpy British club somewhere in the near east. That said, it was comfortable enough. A strange intrusion into the picture was the insertion of several vivid avant garde photographs, a couple of which struck me as wildly out of keeping with the sedate nature of the rest of the room.
We munched on plates of toasted almonds and little sandwiches of ham and sharp cheese. A side of Serrano ham sat nearby. It looked tempting until I saw that a small piece of it would cost $26 Euros.
Service
The staff members I encountered at the Palace were sleek and professional and without a chink in their armor. The hotel proved to be busier than I might have expected, but the staff appeared up to their tasks. Our stay here was so brief that I must confess an inability to fully review all aspects of this hotel, but offer this encapsulated review as a brief taste of what a visitor might hope to expect here.
Cost
While the standard rates here are on the high side of things, one can possibly score a deal on one of the blind booking sites like Hotwire. Of course, in executing a blind booking you may or may not receive this hotel in the process. Checking rates on the Starwood web site didn't turn up much less than $400.00 USD for the same date we booked. I made my reservation through Hotwire and paid about $180.00- not a bad stroke of luck at all.
Overall
The Palace has surely prospered under the care of the Starwood Group. I last saw it years ago when it was grand, but more than a bit dowdy through and through. Some may carp at the idea of such a grand old place being run by an American chain, but they have proved themselves to be careful stewards of the great history of the place. Except for Rubinstein's piano, of course.
The Westin Palace
Plaza De Las Cortes 7
28014 Madrid, Spain
Tel. 34-91-360-8000
Fax: 34-91-360-8100
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
tombarnes
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 - Top 200 |
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Member: Thomas Barnes
Location: Fort Lauderdale & Washington, DC
Reviews written: 688
Trusted by: 444 members
About Me:
With Barbara in Miami, 2004
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