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Hotels Spanish VAT (IVA) is 7% and is added to all hotel bills. The prices quoted below are the starting prices for double rooms, excluding breakfast and IVA, unless otherwise specified. Business Hotel Eurobuilding Located in a modern high-rise in the north of the city, the Eurobuilding is a large hotel (469 rooms) catering specifically for business travellers. The facilities include 20 conference rooms, a business centre and interpreting services, while individual rooms have their own Internet and fax-modem connection, satellite TV and video. The multilingual staff are both friendly and efficient. While the lobby area and lounges are spacious, airy and well suited to informal meetings, they are somewhat lacking in atmosphere (the piped music doesn’t help). The Eurobuilding is just a few minutes’ walk from the Palacio de Congresos y Exposiciones on Paseo de la Castellana and a short drive to Juan Carlos I Trade Fair Centre and Barajas airport. Calle Padre Damián 23 Tel: (91) 353 7300. Fax: (91) 345 4576. E-mail: nheurobuilding@nh-hoteles.es or euroreser@nh-hoteles.es (reservations). Website: www.nh-hoteles.com Price: From €180. Hotel Opera A short walk from the Puerta del Sol and the shops of the Gran Via, this modern, medium-sized hotel (79 rooms) is just across the street from the Opera House, hence the name. The hotel is comfortable, with traditional, slightly old-fashioned furnishings. The business facilities include fax, interpreting and limousine services and conference rooms for small meetings. All rooms are equipped with video and satellite TV, some have balconies with views of old Madrid. The English-speaking staff are friendly and helpful, while in the café-restaurant evening meals are accompanied by live performances of classical and light opera. Cuesta de Santo Domingo 2 Tel: (91) 541 2800. Fax: (91) 541 6923. E-mail: hotelopera@sinix.net Website: www.bestwestern.com/es/hotelopera Price: From €101. Hotel Santo Mauro This small luxury hotel (37 rooms), in a leafy corner of the historic Chamberí neighbourhood, is located in a 19th-century palace that once served as an embassy. It was reconstructed in 1990 in a tasteful combination of neo-classical and avant-garde styles. The lounges, ornamented with stucco mouldings, mirrors and fluted pilasters, evoke the refinement of a bygone age and are the perfect setting for entertaining clients. Other facilities include business services, six conference rooms (in the former ballrooms), interpreting services, multilingual staff and a fitness centre to unwind or re-energise after a taxing day. All bedrooms are individually designed and have satellite TV, video and 24-hour room service. Calle Zurbano 36 Tel: (91) 319 6900. Fax: (91) 308 5477. E-mail: santomauro@itelco.es Website: www.ac-hoteles.com Price: From €70. Suecia As the plaque outside explains, the Suecia’s claim to fame is that the writer, Ernest Hemingway, stayed here in the 1950s, commending it for its proximity to the Prado and the Café del Bellas Artes on Calle Alcalá. The facilities, which include a café-restaurant (afternoon tea served daily), meeting rooms and a secretarial/translation service, are good value for the price and location. Fitted out in Swedish style (Suecia is Spanish for Sweden), the 128 rooms, including nine ‘junior suites’, are cramped or cosy, depending on one’s point of view. To compensate there is a seventh-floor terrace where guests can stretch their legs. Calle Marqués de Casa Riera 4 Tel: (91) 531 6900. Fax: (91) 521 7141. E-mail: hotelsuecia@genio.infor.es Price: From €75. Luxury Hotel Ritz Designed along the lines of its Paris counterpart by architect Francis Mewes, the Ritz opened in 1910 in the presence of King Alfonso XIII. (He had previously bemoaned the paucity of luxury accommodation in the city.) Only a stone’s throw from major cultural attractions, such as the Prado and the Thyssen-Bornemisza museums, the Ritz also appeals to business travellers because of its proximity to the Madrid Stock Exchange and the financial district. Rooms are individually designed, with embroidered linen sheets, handwoven carpets and marble bathrooms. Facilities include fax, telephone, satellite TV and 24-hour room service. Meeting and conference halls cater for up to 500 people with a simultaneous translation service available. There is also a gym, solarium and sauna. The restaurant, sumptuously decorated in the Belle Epoque style with lashings of marble and gilt, serves a spectacular Sunday brunch, as well as Spanish and International cuisine. The terrace and gardens are the perfect setting for meeting friends and business colleagues. Plaza de la Lealtad 5 Tel: (91) 701 6767. Fax: (91) 701 6776. E-mail: reservas@ritz.es Website: www.ritz.es Price: From €300. Palace Hotel Since first opening its doors in 1913, the Palace has been vying with the Ritz in its claims to be Madrid’s premier hotel. Built on a grand scale (455 rooms), it has been restored to a level of opulence almost in excess of the original. As well as 18 conference and banqueting rooms, a business centre and interpreting service, there are individual bedroom-offices equipped with desk, fax/printer and hands-free telephones. The fitness suite is open 24 hours. Although unashamedly glitzy, the Palace is less stuffy than the Ritz and its restaurants and bars are less pricey than one would expect. Plaza de las Cortes 7 Tel: (91) 360 8000. Fax: (91) 360 8100. E-mail: reservations.madrid@westin.com Website: www.palacemadrid.com Price: From €350. Moderate Ingles This hotel, founded in 1853, enjoys an excellent location in the old part of the city, less than 100m (328ft) from Puerta del Sol and equally convenient for cultural attractions like the Prado and the bars and restaurants around Calle Huertas. While the modern decor is a little uninspired, all 58 rooms are kept in pristine condition and service (24 hours) is attentive. Rooms overlooking the street may be noisy late at night; those at the back are quieter. Other facilities include a gym, a café and a garage, which is invaluable, considering that parking spaces are at a premium in central Madrid. Calle Echegaray 8 Tel: (91) 429 6551. Fax: (91) 420 2423. Price: From €85. Trafalgar Less than ten minutes from the centre of town by metro (Iglesia or Bilbao), the Trafalgar is a modern hotel that was completely refurbished a couple of years ago. It lies in a residential neighbourhood, well provided with shops, restaurants and other amenities. The 48 rooms, while unexceptional, are air conditioned and have direct-dial telephones and TV. There is also a laundry service and currency exchange. The English-speaking staff are friendly and helpful but the real plus – surprising given the price – is the indoor swimming pool. Calle Trafalgar 35 Tel: (91) 445 6200. Fax: (91) 446 6456. Price: From €87. Other Recommendations Hotel Aristos The location is the main attraction of this small modern hotel (23 rooms) at the expensive end of the three-star range. Tucked away in a pleasant residential district in the north of the city, the Aristos is about 15 minutes’ drive from the centre. It is equally convenient for Barajas Airport and the Juan Carlos I Trade Fair Centre, while the Palacio de Congresos y Exposiciones, on Paseo de la Castellana, is even closer. A tad soulless, all the rooms have air conditioning, satellite TV, a mini-bar, a bath with a hydromassage shower and laundry service. The restaurant (with terrace) serves Mediterranean dishes. Avenida de Pío XII 34 Tel: (91) 345 0450. Fax: (91) 345 1023. Price: From €145. Hotel Monaco In the heart of the lively Chueca barrio (neighbourhood), once home to Madrid’s blacksmiths, the Monaco was originally a brothel much in vogue with the Spanish nobility, including King Alfonso XIII. Renovated as a hotel in the 1950s, the Art Deco interiors now appear the height of kitsch. Most of the 30 rooms have retained at least some of the original décor – a moulding here, a marble pillar there. The pièce de resistance is Room 20 with wall mirrors and a raised central bathtub. The leather booths in the breakfast room are also original – was this where the courtesans entertained their clients, one wonders? Facilities include a ticket agency, fax service, laundry and bar, while rooms have safes, telephones and TVs. Staff are English-speaking. Calle Barbieri 5 Tel: (91) 522 4630. Fax: (91) 521 1601. Price: From €70. |
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