--- title: "Best Luxury Hotels in Madrid: 10 Ranked" description: "The ten best luxury hotels in Madrid ranked, with which are inside walking distance of the Prado, what a night costs, and where to stay first time." lang: en json-ld: | [ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/#organization", "name": "Luxury Hotel Compare", "alternateName": "Jack Williamson", "url": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com", "description": "Independent luxury hotel comparison and travel guide covering the world's top luxury destinations.", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/og/lhc-logo.png" }, "sameAs": [] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/#website", "name": "Luxury Hotel Compare", "url": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com", "description": "Independent luxury hotel comparisons and travel guides for the world's top destinations.", "publisher": { "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/#organization" }, "potentialAction": { "@type": "SearchAction", "target": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/?search={search_term_string}", "query-input": "required name=search_term_string" } } ] }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Article", "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#article", "name": "Best Luxury Hotels in Madrid: 10 Ranked", "headline": "Best Luxury Hotels in Madrid: 10 Ranked", "description": "The ten best luxury hotels in Madrid ranked, with which are inside walking distance of the Prado, what a night costs, and where to stay first time.", "url": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid", "image": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/images/guides/madrid/rosewood-villa-magna-1200w.webp", "inLanguage": "en", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/#website" }, "publisher": { "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/#organization" }, "abstract": "This guide compares Madrid hotels using live rates, verified guest scores, property specifications, pool provision and measured walking distance to the Prado.", "backstory": "This guide compares Madrid hotels using live rates, verified guest scores, property specifications, pool provision and measured walking distance to the Prado.", "disambiguatingDescription": "Rates, pools and Booking.com scores last verified 12 July 2026. Research methods and funding are published at /methodology.", "author": { "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/about#jack-williamson" }, "datePublished": "2026-09-19", "dateModified": "2026-07-12", "speakable": { "@type": "SpeakableSpecification", "cssSelector": [ "h1", ".lhc-hero-subhead", "#overview", "#verdict-section" ] } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Travel Guides", "item": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Best Luxury Hotels in Madrid: 10 Ranked", "item": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid" } ] }, { "@type": "Hotel", "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#hotel-westin-palace-madrid", "name": "The Palace Madrid", "url": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#hotel-westin-palace-madrid", "image": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/images/guides/madrid/2026/westin-palace-madrid-exterior-1200w.webp", "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "addressLocality": "Centro, on Plaza de las Cortes in the Golden Triangle" } }, { "@type": "Hotel", "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#hotel-mandarin-oriental-ritz-madrid", "name": "Mandarin Oriental Ritz Madrid", "url": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#hotel-mandarin-oriental-ritz-madrid", "image": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/images/guides/madrid/2026/mandarin-oriental-ritz-madrid-exterior-1200w.webp", "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "addressLocality": "Retiro, on Plaza de la Lealtad facing the Prado" } }, { "@type": "Hotel", "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#hotel-four-seasons-madrid", "name": "Four Seasons Hotel Madrid", "url": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#hotel-four-seasons-madrid", "image": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/images/guides/madrid/2026/four-seasons-madrid-exterior-1200w.webp", "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "addressLocality": "Centro, at Canalejas between Puerta del Sol and the Paseo del Prado" } }, { "@type": "Hotel", "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#hotel-palacio-de-los-duques", "name": "Gran Melia Palacio de los Duques", "url": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#hotel-palacio-de-los-duques", "image": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/images/guides/madrid/2026/palacio-de-los-duques-exterior-1200w.webp", "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "addressLocality": "Centro, in the Austrias quarter by the Royal Palace" } }, { "@type": "Hotel", "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#hotel-rosewood-villa-magna", "name": "Rosewood Villa Magna", "url": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#hotel-rosewood-villa-magna", "image": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/images/guides/madrid/2026/rosewood-villa-magna-exterior-1200w.webp", "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "addressLocality": "Salamanca, on the Paseo de la Castellana" } }, { "@type": "Hotel", "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#hotel-bless-hotel-madrid", "name": "Bless Hotel Madrid", "url": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#hotel-bless-hotel-madrid", "image": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/images/guides/madrid/2026/bless-hotel-madrid-rooftop-1200w.webp", "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "addressLocality": "Salamanca, on Calle Velazquez" } }, { "@type": "Hotel", "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#hotel-santo-mauro", "name": "Santo Mauro", "url": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#hotel-santo-mauro", "image": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/images/guides/madrid/2026/santo-mauro-exterior-1200w.webp", "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "addressLocality": "Chamberi, on Calle Zurbano" } }, { "@type": "Hotel", "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#hotel-urso-hotel-spa", "name": "URSO Hotel and Spa", "url": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#hotel-urso-hotel-spa", "image": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/images/guides/madrid/2026/urso-hotel-spa-exterior-1200w.webp", "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "addressLocality": "Alonso Martinez, on the edge of Chamberi and Justicia" } }, { "@type": "Hotel", "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#hotel-only-you-atocha", "name": "Only YOU Hotel Atocha", "url": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#hotel-only-you-atocha", "image": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/images/guides/madrid/2026/only-you-atocha-exterior-1200w.webp", "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "addressLocality": "Retiro district, facing Atocha station" } }, { "@type": "Hotel", "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#hotel-heritage-madrid", "name": "Heritage Madrid", "url": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#hotel-heritage-madrid", "image": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/images/guides/madrid/2026/heritage-madrid-terrace-1200w.webp", "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "addressLocality": "Salamanca, on Calle Diego de Leon" } }, { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#hotels", "name": "Best Luxury Hotels in Madrid: 10 Ranked", "numberOfItems": 10, "itemListOrder": "https://schema.org/ItemListOrderAscending", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#hotel-westin-palace-madrid" } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#hotel-mandarin-oriental-ritz-madrid" } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#hotel-four-seasons-madrid" } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "item": { "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#hotel-palacio-de-los-duques" } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "item": { "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#hotel-rosewood-villa-magna" } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 6, "item": { "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#hotel-bless-hotel-madrid" } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 7, "item": { "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#hotel-santo-mauro" } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 8, "item": { "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#hotel-urso-hotel-spa" } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 9, "item": { "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#hotel-only-you-atocha" } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 10, "item": { "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#hotel-heritage-madrid" } } ] }, { "@type": "Review", "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#review-westin-palace-madrid", "itemReviewed": { "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#hotel-westin-palace-madrid" }, "author": { "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/about#jack-williamson" }, "publisher": { "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/#organization" }, "reviewBody": "A 1912 grand hotel rebuilt for about 100 million euros and reopened in March 2025" }, { "@type": "Review", "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#review-mandarin-oriental-ritz-madrid", "itemReviewed": { "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#hotel-mandarin-oriental-ritz-madrid" }, "author": { "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/about#jack-williamson" }, "publisher": { "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/#organization" }, "reviewBody": "Two minutes from the Prado's Velazquez door, with the best garden of any hotel in the city" }, { "@type": "Review", "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#review-four-seasons-madrid", "itemReviewed": { "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#hotel-four-seasons-madrid" }, "author": { "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/about#jack-williamson" }, "publisher": { "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/#organization" }, "reviewBody": "The only full size hotel pool and spa in central Madrid, four minutes from Puerta del Sol" }, { "@type": "Review", "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#review-palacio-de-los-duques", "itemReviewed": { "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#hotel-palacio-de-los-duques" }, "author": { "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/about#jack-williamson" }, "publisher": { "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/#organization" }, "reviewBody": "A rooftop pool facing the Almudena, and 40 square metre rooms at half the Golden Triangle rate" }, { "@type": "Review", "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#review-rosewood-villa-magna", "itemReviewed": { "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#hotel-rosewood-villa-magna" }, "author": { "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/about#jack-williamson" }, "publisher": { "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/#organization" }, "reviewBody": "The largest standard rooms in Madrid at about 40 square metres, and the highest rate in this guide" }, { "@type": "Review", "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#review-bless-hotel-madrid", "itemReviewed": { "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#hotel-bless-hotel-madrid" }, "author": { "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/about#jack-williamson" }, "publisher": { "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/#organization" }, "reviewBody": "One of only two rooftop pools in this guide, on top of the old Gran Hotel Velazquez" }, { "@type": "Review", "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#review-santo-mauro", "itemReviewed": { "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#hotel-santo-mauro" }, "author": { "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/about#jack-williamson" }, "publisher": { "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/#organization" }, "reviewBody": "A walled garden of chestnut trees and only 49 rooms, in a Chamberi palace of the 1890s" }, { "@type": "Review", "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#review-urso-hotel-spa", "itemReviewed": { "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#hotel-urso-hotel-spa" }, "author": { "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/about#jack-williamson" }, "publisher": { "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/#organization" }, "reviewBody": "A Natura Bisse spa with a pool at USD$259, three minutes from four metro lines" }, { "@type": "Review", "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#review-only-you-atocha", "itemReviewed": { "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#hotel-only-you-atocha" }, "author": { "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/about#jack-williamson" }, "publisher": { "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/#organization" }, "reviewBody": "A minute from the high speed platforms, and at USD$115 the cheapest room in this guide" }, { "@type": "Review", "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#review-heritage-madrid", "itemReviewed": { "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#hotel-heritage-madrid" }, "author": { "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/about#jack-williamson" }, "publisher": { "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/#organization" }, "reviewBody": "The highest guest scores in this guide, and the longest walk to the Prado" }, { "@type": "FAQPage", "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#faq", "mainEntity": [ { "@type": "Question", "name": "Which luxury hotels in Madrid actually have a swimming pool?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Four of the ten in this guide. Bless and Gran Melia Palacio de los Duques have rooftop pools, both open in the warmer months only. Four Seasons Hotel Madrid has a 14 metre indoor pool under a skylight, open 7am to 9pm all year and limited to guests aged twelve and over. URSO has a small pool attached to its Natura Bisse spa, shared with day spa clients. The Mandarin Oriental Ritz, Rosewood Villa Magna, Santo Mauro, Heritage, Only YOU Atocha and The Palace have no pool at all." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Which Madrid hotels have a rooftop pool?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Only two of the ten here. Bless Hotel Madrid has one on its Picos Pardos Sky Lounge on Calle Velazquez, and Gran Melia Palacio de los Duques has a pool and whirlpool on its seventh floor terrace facing the Almudena Cathedral. Both are seasonal and closed through the winter, when Picos Pardos switches to heated igloos and a glazed pergola. Heritage Madrid has a roof terrace with loungers and planting but no pool, which catches a lot of guests out." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Which Madrid luxury hotel is closest to the Prado?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "The Mandarin Oriental Ritz, at two to three minutes on foot from the Prado's Velazquez entrance, on Plaza de la Lealtad. The Palace is next at three to five minutes and is two minutes from the Thyssen. Those are the only two hotels in this guide inside the Golden Triangle. From there the walk jumps to twelve to fifteen minutes for the Four Seasons and about thirty for Heritage in upper Salamanca." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Is The Palace Madrid the same hotel as the Westin Palace?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Yes. The hotel on Plaza de las Cortes opened in 1912 and traded as the Westin Palace until it closed for a restoration costing about 100 million euros. It reopened in March 2025 as The Palace, a Luxury Collection Hotel, with the stained glass dome restored and all 470 rooms rebuilt. Some booking sites still list it under the old name, and a large share of its 5,373 TripAdvisor reviews describe the hotel before the restoration." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "What is the best value luxury hotel in Madrid?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Gran Melia Palacio de los Duques, from about USD$324 a night. Entry rooms run to roughly 40 square metres, which matches the largest standard rooms in this guide at less than half the rate, and it has a rooftop pool, three restaurants, two cocktail bars and a score of 4.8 from 2,079 reviews. The Royal Palace and the Teatro Real are five minutes away. The trade is that the pool is seasonal and the Prado is a twenty minute walk." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "How much is a taxi from Madrid airport to the city centre?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "A flat 33 euros. Madrid taxis charge a fixed fare between Barajas and anywhere inside the M30 ring road, which covers every hotel in this guide, with no luggage surcharge and no surge pricing whatever the time or the traffic. The airport is 13km from the centre and the drive is usually twenty five to thirty five minutes. Because the fare is per car rather than per person, it beats the metro outright for three or more travellers." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Does Madrid charge a tourist tax?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "No city tourist tax applied at the time of checking, which is a real difference from Barcelona and from much of Italy. Hotel rates in Madrid are quoted before VAT, so the number you see is not the number you pay, but there is no separate per person nightly levy collected at check out. Budget for VAT and for parking if you are driving, and nothing else." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Where should I stay in Madrid on a first visit?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Inside the Golden Triangle around the Paseo del Prado, which means The Palace from about USD$455 or the Mandarin Oriental Ritz from about USD$700. Both put you within five minutes of the Prado and the Thyssen and about ten to seventeen minutes from Puerta del Sol. If you would rather be nearer Sol and the shops, the Four Seasons at Canalejas is four minutes from Kilometre Zero, and it is the only central hotel with a full spa and pool." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Is Salamanca a good area to stay in Madrid?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "It is elegant, residential and safe, and it is further from the museums than most guides admit. Rosewood Villa Magna is twenty to twenty five minutes on foot from the Prado, Bless twenty to twenty five, and Heritage about thirty with Puerta del Sol closer to forty. Serrano and the boutiques are two to five minutes from all three. Stay here if you are shopping or repeat visiting, and take the metro rather than walking to the Golden Triangle." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Which Madrid hotel is best for families?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Gran Melia Palacio de los Duques. Rooms start around 40 square metres, many are designed for families, and the Red Level rooms work as a hotel within a hotel with their own check in, a private lounge and a dedicated seating and dining area inside the room. It also has one of only two rooftop pools in this guide. URSO is the smaller alternative, with about a tenth of its 78 rooms set up as family rooms with connecting doors. Note that the Four Seasons pool is limited to ages twelve and over." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "When is the best time to visit Madrid?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Late April, May, late September and October. Highs sit in the high teens to mid twenties, the daylight is long and the terraces are open. July and August reach 32C to 33C in the afternoon and most of the city stops between two and six, though August is the cheapest month at the top end because business demand collapses. January and February are cold, with highs of 10C to 12C, and quiet." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Which Madrid hotel has the best restaurant?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "The Mandarin Oriental Ritz has the strongest line up, because Quique Dacosta oversees all four outlets including room service, and Deessa is the fine dining room. Rosewood Villa Magna has Amos from the Michelin starred Jesus Sanchez, and Heritage has Haroma under Mario Sandoval of the two star Coque. For a room rather than a menu, La Cupula at The Palace sits under a restored stained glass dome and serves from breakfast until late." } } ] } ] }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Article", "headline": "Best Luxury Hotels in Madrid: 10 Ranked", "description": "The ten best luxury hotels in Madrid ranked, with which are inside walking distance of the Prado, what a night costs, and where to stay first time.", "image": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/images/guides/madrid/rosewood-villa-magna-1200w.webp", "datePublished": "2026-09-19", "dateModified": "2026-09-19", "mainEntityOfPage": { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jack Williamson", "url": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/about" }, "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Luxury Hotel Compare", "url": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com" } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Travel guides", "item": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Best luxury hotels in Madrid", "item": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid" } ] }, { "@type": "FAQPage", "mainEntity": [ { "@type": "Question", "name": "Which luxury hotels in Madrid actually have a swimming pool?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Four of the ten in this guide. Bless and Gran Melia Palacio de los Duques have rooftop pools, both open in the warmer months only. Four Seasons Hotel Madrid has a 14 metre indoor pool under a skylight, open 7am to 9pm all year and limited to guests aged twelve and over. URSO has a small pool attached to its Natura Bisse spa, shared with day spa clients. The Mandarin Oriental Ritz, Rosewood Villa Magna, Santo Mauro, Heritage, Only YOU Atocha and The Palace have no pool at all." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Which Madrid hotels have a rooftop pool?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Only two of the ten here. Bless Hotel Madrid has one on its Picos Pardos Sky Lounge on Calle Velazquez, and Gran Melia Palacio de los Duques has a pool and whirlpool on its seventh floor terrace facing the Almudena Cathedral. Both are seasonal and closed through the winter, when Picos Pardos switches to heated igloos and a glazed pergola. Heritage Madrid has a roof terrace with loungers and planting but no pool, which catches a lot of guests out." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Which Madrid luxury hotel is closest to the Prado?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "The Mandarin Oriental Ritz, at two to three minutes on foot from the Prado's Velazquez entrance, on Plaza de la Lealtad. The Palace is next at three to five minutes and is two minutes from the Thyssen. Those are the only two hotels in this guide inside the Golden Triangle. From there the walk jumps to twelve to fifteen minutes for the Four Seasons and about thirty for Heritage in upper Salamanca." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Is The Palace Madrid the same hotel as the Westin Palace?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Yes. The hotel on Plaza de las Cortes opened in 1912 and traded as the Westin Palace until it closed for a restoration costing about 100 million euros. It reopened in March 2025 as The Palace, a Luxury Collection Hotel, with the stained glass dome restored and all 470 rooms rebuilt. Some booking sites still list it under the old name, and a large share of its 5,373 TripAdvisor reviews describe the hotel before the restoration." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "What is the best value luxury hotel in Madrid?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Gran Melia Palacio de los Duques, from about USD$324 a night. Entry rooms run to roughly 40 square metres, which matches the largest standard rooms in this guide at less than half the rate, and it has a rooftop pool, three restaurants, two cocktail bars and a score of 4.8 from 2,079 reviews. The Royal Palace and the Teatro Real are five minutes away. The trade is that the pool is seasonal and the Prado is a twenty minute walk." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "How much is a taxi from Madrid airport to the city centre?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "A flat 33 euros. Madrid taxis charge a fixed fare between Barajas and anywhere inside the M30 ring road, which covers every hotel in this guide, with no luggage surcharge and no surge pricing whatever the time or the traffic. The airport is 13km from the centre and the drive is usually twenty five to thirty five minutes. Because the fare is per car rather than per person, it beats the metro outright for three or more travellers." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Does Madrid charge a tourist tax?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "No city tourist tax applied at the time of checking, which is a real difference from Barcelona and from much of Italy. Hotel rates in Madrid are quoted before VAT, so the number you see is not the number you pay, but there is no separate per person nightly levy collected at check out. Budget for VAT and for parking if you are driving, and nothing else." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Where should I stay in Madrid on a first visit?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Inside the Golden Triangle around the Paseo del Prado, which means The Palace from about USD$455 or the Mandarin Oriental Ritz from about USD$700. Both put you within five minutes of the Prado and the Thyssen and about ten to seventeen minutes from Puerta del Sol. If you would rather be nearer Sol and the shops, the Four Seasons at Canalejas is four minutes from Kilometre Zero, and it is the only central hotel with a full spa and pool." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Is Salamanca a good area to stay in Madrid?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "It is elegant, residential and safe, and it is further from the museums than most guides admit. Rosewood Villa Magna is twenty to twenty five minutes on foot from the Prado, Bless twenty to twenty five, and Heritage about thirty with Puerta del Sol closer to forty. Serrano and the boutiques are two to five minutes from all three. Stay here if you are shopping or repeat visiting, and take the metro rather than walking to the Golden Triangle." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Which Madrid hotel is best for families?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Gran Melia Palacio de los Duques. Rooms start around 40 square metres, many are designed for families, and the Red Level rooms work as a hotel within a hotel with their own check in, a private lounge and a dedicated seating and dining area inside the room. It also has one of only two rooftop pools in this guide. URSO is the smaller alternative, with about a tenth of its 78 rooms set up as family rooms with connecting doors. Note that the Four Seasons pool is limited to ages twelve and over." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "When is the best time to visit Madrid?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Late April, May, late September and October. Highs sit in the high teens to mid twenties, the daylight is long and the terraces are open. July and August reach 32C to 33C in the afternoon and most of the city stops between two and six, though August is the cheapest month at the top end because business demand collapses. January and February are cold, with highs of 10C to 12C, and quiet." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Which Madrid hotel has the best restaurant?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "The Mandarin Oriental Ritz has the strongest line up, because Quique Dacosta oversees all four outlets including room service, and Deessa is the fine dining room. Rosewood Villa Magna has Amos from the Michelin starred Jesus Sanchez, and Heritage has Haroma under Mario Sandoval of the two star Coque. For a room rather than a menu, La Cupula at The Palace sits under a restored stained glass dome and serves from breakfast until late." } } ] }, { "@type": "ItemList", "itemListOrder": "https://schema.org/ItemListOrderAscending", "numberOfItems": 10, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Hotel", "name": "The Palace Madrid", "url": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#westin-palace-madrid", "image": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/images/guides/madrid/2026/westin-palace-madrid-exterior-1200w.webp", "description": "A 1912 grand hotel rebuilt for about 100 million euros and reopened in March 2025", "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "addressLocality": "Centro, on Plaza de las Cortes in the Golden Triangle", "addressCountry": "ES" } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Hotel", "name": "Mandarin Oriental Ritz Madrid", "url": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#mandarin-oriental-ritz-madrid", "image": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/images/guides/madrid/2026/mandarin-oriental-ritz-madrid-exterior-1200w.webp", "description": "Two minutes from the Prado's Velazquez door, with the best garden of any hotel in the city", "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "addressLocality": "Retiro, on Plaza de la Lealtad facing the Prado", "addressCountry": "ES" } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Hotel", "name": "Four Seasons Hotel Madrid", "url": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#four-seasons-madrid", "image": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/images/guides/madrid/2026/four-seasons-madrid-exterior-1200w.webp", "description": "The only full size hotel pool and spa in central Madrid, four minutes from Puerta del Sol", "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "addressLocality": "Centro, at Canalejas between Puerta del Sol and the Paseo del Prado", "addressCountry": "ES" } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "item": { "@type": "Hotel", "name": "Gran Melia Palacio de los Duques", "url": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#palacio-de-los-duques", "image": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/images/guides/madrid/2026/palacio-de-los-duques-exterior-1200w.webp", "description": "A rooftop pool facing the Almudena, and 40 square metre rooms at half the Golden Triangle rate", "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "addressLocality": "Centro, in the Austrias quarter by the Royal Palace", "addressCountry": "ES" } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "item": { "@type": "Hotel", "name": "Rosewood Villa Magna", "url": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#rosewood-villa-magna", "image": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/images/guides/madrid/2026/rosewood-villa-magna-exterior-1200w.webp", "description": "The largest standard rooms in Madrid at about 40 square metres, and the highest rate in this guide", "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "addressLocality": "Salamanca, on the Paseo de la Castellana", "addressCountry": "ES" } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 6, "item": { "@type": "Hotel", "name": "Bless Hotel Madrid", "url": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#bless-hotel-madrid", "image": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/images/guides/madrid/2026/bless-hotel-madrid-rooftop-1200w.webp", "description": "One of only two rooftop pools in this guide, on top of the old Gran Hotel Velazquez", "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "addressLocality": "Salamanca, on Calle Velazquez", "addressCountry": "ES" } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 7, "item": { "@type": "Hotel", "name": "Santo Mauro", "url": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#santo-mauro", "image": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/images/guides/madrid/2026/santo-mauro-exterior-1200w.webp", "description": "A walled garden of chestnut trees and only 49 rooms, in a Chamberi palace of the 1890s", "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "addressLocality": "Chamberi, on Calle Zurbano", "addressCountry": "ES" } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 8, "item": { "@type": "Hotel", "name": "URSO Hotel and Spa", "url": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#urso-hotel-spa", "image": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/images/guides/madrid/2026/urso-hotel-spa-exterior-1200w.webp", "description": "A Natura Bisse spa with a pool at USD$259, three minutes from four metro lines", "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "addressLocality": "Alonso Martinez, on the edge of Chamberi and Justicia", "addressCountry": "ES" } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 9, "item": { "@type": "Hotel", "name": "Only YOU Hotel Atocha", "url": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#only-you-atocha", "image": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/images/guides/madrid/2026/only-you-atocha-exterior-1200w.webp", "description": "A minute from the high speed platforms, and at USD$115 the cheapest room in this guide", "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "addressLocality": "Retiro district, facing Atocha station", "addressCountry": "ES" } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 10, "item": { "@type": "Hotel", "name": "Heritage Madrid", "url": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-madrid#heritage-madrid", "image": "https://luxuryhotelcompare.com/images/guides/madrid/2026/heritage-madrid-terrace-1200w.webp", "description": "The highest guest scores in this guide, and the longest walk to the Prado", "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "addressLocality": "Salamanca, on Calle Diego de Leon", "addressCountry": "ES" } } } ] } ] } ] --- [L Luxury Hotel Compare Indep · Editorial · 2026 ](/) Destinations Guides [Best eSIM](/travel-guides/best-esim-international-travel-2026)[Priority Pass Review](/airport-lounges)[Best Luxury Luggage](/suitcases) [Book Via Booking.com](https://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-101801746-17288959?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.booking.com%2Fsearchresults.html%3Fss%3Dluxury%2Bhotels%26checkin%3D2026-10-21%26checkout%3D2026-10-23%26group_adults%3D2%26no_rooms%3D1%26group_children%3D0) In this guide When to go In this guide - [When to go](#when-to-go) - [Compare](#compared) - [The ranking](#reviewed) - [The Palace Madrid](#westin-palace-madrid) - [Mandarin Oriental Ritz Madrid](#mandarin-oriental-ritz-madrid) - [Four Seasons Hotel Madrid](#four-seasons-madrid) - [Gran Melia Palacio de los Duques](#palacio-de-los-duques) - [Rosewood Villa Magna](#rosewood-villa-magna) - [Five more](#more) - [Bless Hotel Madrid](#bless-hotel-madrid) - [Santo Mauro](#santo-mauro) - [URSO Hotel and Spa](#urso-hotel-spa) - [Only YOU Hotel Atocha](#only-you-atocha) - [Heritage Madrid](#heritage-madrid) - [Where to stay](#where-to-stay) - [The pool question](#pool-truth) - [Value pick](#value) - [Airport](#getting-in) - [Method](#how-i-ranked) - [More guides](#related) - [FAQs](#faqs) Guide facts Hotels reviewed 10 in full With a rooftop pool 2 of 10, both seasonal With no pool at all 6 of 10 Price range USD$115 to USD$791 a night Best value pick Gran Melia Palacio de los Duques Last verified 18 September 2026 Compare live Madrid rates for your dates. [Check rates](https://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-101801746-17288959?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.booking.com%2Fsearchresults.html%3Fss%3Dluxury%2Bhotels%2BMadrid%26checkin%3D2026-10-21%26checkout%3D2026-10-23%26group_adults%3D2%26no_rooms%3D1%26group_children%3D0) ![The long curved facade of The Palace Madrid on Plaza de las Cortes](/images/guides/madrid/2026/westin-palace-madrid-exterior-1200w.webp) Madrid · Hotel guide · 2026 # The ten best luxury hotels in Madrid Ten Madrid hotels compared on the two things the brochures blur: how far you actually walk to the Prado, and whether there is a pool you can get into in August. Two of the ten have a rooftop pool and both shut for the winter, six have no pool at all, and the walk to the Prado runs from three minutes to thirty. By **Jack Williamson**, Luxury Travel Editor Published 20 September 2026 Rates and scores verified 18 September 2026 17 minute read ## The quick answer The Palace is the one I would book first. It reopened in March 2025 after a restoration of roughly 100 million euros, it is three to five minutes from the Prado and two from the Thyssen, and at about 455 dollars it undercuts both of its neighbours in the Golden Triangle. The trade is scale: 470 rooms, a lobby that is busy from mid morning, and still no swimming pool. If you want the same address with a quarter of the traffic, the Mandarin Oriental Ritz is two minutes from the Prado's Velazquez door and has the best garden of any hotel in the city, and the Four Seasons at Canalejas has the only full size spa and pool in central Madrid. Neither is cheap. My value pick is [Gran Melia Palacio de los Duques](https://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-101801746-17288959?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.booking.com%2Fsearchresults.html%3Fss%3DGran%2BMelia%2BPalacio%2Bde%2Blos%2BDuques%2BMadrid%26checkin%3D2026-10-21%26checkout%3D2026-10-23%26group_adults%3D2%26no_rooms%3D1%26group_children%3D0) at about 324 dollars, which gives you 40 square metre rooms, a rooftop pool and a score of 4.8 from 2,079 reviews, five minutes from the Royal Palace. The warning is the pool. Most Madrid guides leave you with the impression that a rooftop pool is standard at this level. It is not. Only Bless and Palacio de los Duques have one, both are seasonal, the Four Seasons pool is indoors and limited to guests aged twelve and over, and six of the ten hotels here have no pool of any kind. In a city that hits 33C in July, check before you book, not after. We may earn a commission when you use our links, at no extra cost to you. [How rankings and funding work](/methodology#how-we-make-money). ## Madrid month by month Daytime high, celsius Madrid sits 650 metres above sea level with no coast anywhere near it, and the climate does what that suggests: hot, dry afternoons, cool nights, and very little rain when you most want to be outside. July and August reach 32C to 33C and the city shuts down between two and six. August is also the cheapest month at the top end, because business demand collapses and the hotels know it, which is the month a pool stops being a nice extra and starts being the whole point. 10 12 16 19 23 29 33 32 27 20 14 10 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Rain days 6 5 5 7 7 3 2 2 4 7 7 6 Crowds Quiet Quiet Steady Busy Busy Busy Steady Quiet Busy Busy Steady Busy **My verdict.** Go in late April, May, late September or October: high teens to mid twenties, long daylight and terraces open. July and August reach 32C to 33C in the afternoon and most of the city stops until six. ## The ten compared Rates are the lowest standard room for two adults, all recorded on the same afternoon so they compare with each other rather than with a booking engine on a different day. Read the pool column and the Prado column first. They are the two things this guide exists to settle. Ten Madrid luxury hotels compared on area, pool, walking time to the Prado, rate and who each one suits Hotel Area Pool Walk to the Prado From Best for ![The long curved facade of The Palace Madrid on Plaza de las Cortes](/images/guides/madrid/2026/westin-palace-madrid-exterior-480w.webp)[The Palace Madrid](https://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-101801746-17288959?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.booking.com%2Fsearchresults.html%3Fss%3DThe%2BPalace%2BMadrid%26checkin%3D2026-10-21%26checkout%3D2026-10-23%26group_adults%3D2%26no_rooms%3D1%26group_children%3D0) Golden Triangle None 3 to 5 min USD$455 Walking out of the door into the Prado and the Thyssen ![The Belle Epoque facade of the Mandarin Oriental Ritz Madrid lit at dusk above its garden](/images/guides/madrid/2026/mandarin-oriental-ritz-madrid-exterior-480w.webp)[Mandarin Oriental Ritz Madrid](https://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-101801746-17288959?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.booking.com%2Fsearchresults.html%3Fss%3DMandarin%2BOriental%2BRitz%2BMadrid%26checkin%3D2026-10-21%26checkout%3D2026-10-23%26group_adults%3D2%26no_rooms%3D1%26group_children%3D0) Retiro, Paseo del Prado None 2 to 3 min USD$700 The Golden Triangle, and a serious dinner downstairs ![The restored bank buildings on the corner of Calle de Alcala that hold Four Seasons Hotel Madrid](/images/guides/madrid/2026/four-seasons-madrid-exterior-480w.webp)[Four Seasons Hotel Madrid](https://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-101801746-17288959?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.booking.com%2Fsearchresults.html%3Fss%3DFour%2BSeasons%2BHotel%2BMadrid%26checkin%3D2026-10-21%26checkout%3D2026-10-23%26group_adults%3D2%26no_rooms%3D1%26group_children%3D0) Centro, Canalejas Indoor, all year 12 to 15 min USD$685 A first visit where everything has to work ![The courtyard garden at Gran Melia Palacio de los Duques with a stone fountain and the white palace behind](/images/guides/madrid/2026/palacio-de-los-duques-exterior-480w.webp)Gran Melia Palacio de los Duques Austrias, by the Royal Palace Rooftop, seasonal 20 min USD$324 Old Madrid, families, and the best rate to facility ratio here ![The entrance canopy and reflecting pool at Rosewood Villa Magna on the Paseo de la Castellana](/images/guides/madrid/2026/rosewood-villa-magna-exterior-480w.webp)[Rosewood Villa Magna](https://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-101801746-17288959?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.booking.com%2Fsearchresults.html%3Fss%3DRosewood%2BVilla%2BMagna%2BMadrid%26checkin%3D2026-10-21%26checkout%3D2026-10-23%26group_adults%3D2%26no_rooms%3D1%26group_children%3D0) Salamanca, Castellana None 20 to 25 min USD$791 Space, shopping and dinner at Amos ![The rooftop terrace at Bless Hotel Madrid at sunset with tables and the Madrid skyline behind](/images/guides/madrid/2026/bless-hotel-madrid-rooftop-480w.webp)[Bless Hotel Madrid](https://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-101801746-17288959?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.booking.com%2Fsearchresults.html%3Fss%3DBless%2BHotel%2BMadrid%26checkin%3D2026-10-21%26checkout%3D2026-10-23%26group_adults%3D2%26no_rooms%3D1%26group_children%3D0) Salamanca, Velazquez Rooftop, seasonal 20 to 25 min USD$387 Design, the roof, and a night out you do not have to leave for ![The white palace facade of Santo Mauro behind palms and clipped hedges](/images/guides/madrid/2026/santo-mauro-exterior-480w.webp)[Santo Mauro](https://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-101801746-17288959?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.booking.com%2Fsearchresults.html%3Fss%3DSanto%2BMauro%2BMadrid%26checkin%3D2026-10-21%26checkout%3D2026-10-23%26group_adults%3D2%26no_rooms%3D1%26group_children%3D0) Chamberi None 25 to 30 min USD$587 Couples who want a house party rather than a lobby ![The stone facade of URSO Hotel and Spa above the trees on Calle Mejia Lequerica](/images/guides/madrid/2026/urso-hotel-spa-exterior-480w.webp)[URSO Hotel and Spa](https://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-101801746-17288959?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.booking.com%2Fsearchresults.html%3Fss%3DURSO%2BHotel%2Band%2BSpa%2BMadrid%26checkin%3D2026-10-21%26checkout%3D2026-10-23%26group_adults%3D2%26no_rooms%3D1%26group_children%3D0) Alonso Martinez Small spa pool, all year About 20 min USD$259 Quiet nights, a spa, and a real neighbourhood ![The chequered red and white facade of Only YOU Hotel Atocha seen from the street](/images/guides/madrid/2026/only-you-atocha-exterior-480w.webp)[Only YOU Hotel Atocha](https://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-101801746-17288959?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.booking.com%2Fsearchresults.html%3Fss%3DOnly%2BYOU%2BHotel%2BAtocha%2BMadrid%26checkin%3D2026-10-21%26checkout%3D2026-10-23%26group_adults%3D2%26no_rooms%3D1%26group_children%3D0) Retiro, facing Atocha None 14 to 15 min USD$115 Train arrivals and museum days on a sane budget ![Sun loungers and planting on the roof terrace at Heritage Madrid](/images/guides/madrid/2026/heritage-madrid-terrace-480w.webp)[Heritage Madrid](https://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-101801746-17288959?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.booking.com%2Fsearchresults.html%3Fss%3DHeritage%2BMadrid%26checkin%3D2026-10-21%26checkout%3D2026-10-23%26group_adults%3D2%26no_rooms%3D1%26group_children%3D0) Salamanca, Diego de Leon None About 30 min USD$236 Repeat visitors who will use the metro without complaining Rates checked 18 September 2026 for a standard room, two adults, midweek, before VAT. Walking times are measured to the Prado's Velazquez entrance. Seasonal means the pool opens in the warmer months only, which in practice is roughly May to September. ![Priority Pass logo](https://cdn.brandfetch.io/prioritypass.com/w/200/h/200/logo?c=1id1S46xxETYxelu0Ag) Before you fly ### Barajas is four terminals and a shuttle bus between them. Terminal 4 sits a ten to fifteen minute ride from Terminals 1 to 3, and the satellite at T4S adds another train. A lounge membership turns the hour you have to leave spare into an hour that is worth something. [See Priority Pass plans](https://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=60243&awinaffid=2811492) ## The ten reviewed Ranked in the order I would book them, which is not the order of their rates. Every drawback below comes from either the hotel's own published detail or a pattern in recent guest reviews, and I have said which. One structural note before the list. Madrid is compact, so the distances here are measured in minutes on foot rather than in miles. That makes them easy to wave away and they should not be waved away. The gap between the Mandarin Oriental Ritz and Heritage is three minutes to thirty, which over four days is the difference between walking out of your door into the Prado and building a metro journey into every morning. 01\. Centro, on Plaza de las Cortes in the Golden Triangle ### The Palace Madrid 4.4 on Tripadvisor, 5,373 reviews ![The long curved facade of The Palace Madrid on Plaza de las Cortes](/images/guides/madrid/2026/westin-palace-madrid-exterior-1200w.webp) ![The stained glass and iron dome above the rotunda at The Palace Madrid seen from below](/images/guides/madrid/2026/westin-palace-madrid-architecture-1200w.webp) ![The rotunda restaurant at The Palace Madrid with palms and marble columns under the dome](/images/guides/madrid/2026/westin-palace-madrid-restaurant-1200w.webp) ![The panelled bar at 27 Club in The Palace Madrid with a skylight and deep red armchairs](/images/guides/madrid/2026/westin-palace-madrid-bar-1200w.webp) ![A guest room at The Palace Madrid with a hand painted tree mural above the bed](/images/guides/madrid/2026/westin-palace-madrid-guest-room-1200w.webp) Opened in 1912 and reopened in March 2025 after a restoration lasting two years A 1912 grand hotel rebuilt for about 100 million euros and reopened in March 2025 Start with the name, because half the internet still has it wrong. This hotel opened on Plaza de las Cortes in 1912, traded for years as the Westin Palace, closed for a two year restoration costing about 100 million euros, and reopened in March 2025 as The Palace, a Luxury Collection Hotel. Booking sites are still catching up, and you will find listings, photographs and complaints attached to it that describe a hotel that no longer exists. Read the dates on anything you are shown. What came back is the best set of public rooms in Madrid. The stained glass and iron dome by Eduardo Ferres i Puig has been fully restored, and La Cupula sits underneath it serving from breakfast until late. The old Museo Bar is now 27 Club, named for the Spanish poets of the Generation of 27. The 470 rooms, 50 of them suites, were rebuilt with wallpapers hand painted to designs taken from the Retiro and bathroom mosaics drawn from the Royal Botanical Gardens. The restoration team catalogued and reused original elements rather than ordering replacements, including the dome, the facade and the glass palm tree chandelier in the lobby. The advice here is about wings. A 1912 building of this size has good rooms and dim ones, and the split is geographic rather than by category. Ask for the Plaza de las Cortes or Carrera de San Jeronimo fronts, which have the light and the view; the inner rooms are dark and priced as though they are not. Eat breakfast at La Cupula before half past eight or you will queue behind half of Madrid, because the room now trades as a destination in its own right. Two honest problems. This is the largest luxury hotel in central Madrid by a distance, and it behaves like it: the lobby, the lifts and the dome are busy from mid morning, and arrival at a check in desk serving 470 rooms is not a personal experience. And there is still no swimming pool, in a hotel that just spent 100 million euros and a city that reaches 33C in July. Its TripAdvisor score of 4.4 across 5,373 reviews is the joint lowest here, and most of those reviews are describing the previous hotel. For the position, three to five minutes from the Prado and two from the Thyssen, I would take it anyway. > “This hotel is absolutely stunning. It was in a good location to walk to most museums and attractions that Madrid has to offer.” > > TripAdvisor review by Nick Weatherhead, August 2026 The verdict - **+**Three to five minutes from the Prado and two from the Thyssen - **+**Reopened March 2025, so the rooms are new behind a 1912 front - **+**The restored stained glass dome is the best hotel interior in Madrid - **−**No swimming pool, and the restoration did not add one - **−**470 rooms, so the lobby and lifts are busy from mid morning From about USD$455 a night Rate checked 18 September 2026, standard room, midweek, before VAT Check rates[Official site ↗](https://www.thepalacehotelmadrid.com/) 02\. Retiro, on Plaza de la Lealtad facing the Prado ### Mandarin Oriental Ritz Madrid 4.5 on Tripadvisor, 325 reviews ![The Belle Epoque facade of the Mandarin Oriental Ritz Madrid lit at dusk above its garden](/images/guides/madrid/2026/mandarin-oriental-ritz-madrid-exterior-1200w.webp) ![The glazed rotunda of the Palm Court at Mandarin Oriental Ritz Madrid with palms and wicker chairs](/images/guides/madrid/2026/mandarin-oriental-ritz-madrid-lobby-1200w.webp) ![A guest room at Mandarin Oriental Ritz Madrid with a dark wooden bed and panelled walls](/images/guides/madrid/2026/mandarin-oriental-ritz-madrid-guest-room-1200w.webp) ![A suite at Mandarin Oriental Ritz Madrid with a painted sky ceiling above the bed](/images/guides/madrid/2026/mandarin-oriental-ritz-madrid-suite-1200w.webp) ![The garden terrace at Mandarin Oriental Ritz Madrid with a stone fountain and white parasols](/images/guides/madrid/2026/mandarin-oriental-ritz-madrid-grounds-1200w.webp) The 1910 building on Plaza de la Lealtad, two minutes from the Prado's Velazquez door Two minutes from the Prado's Velazquez door, with the best garden of any hotel in the city Alfonso XIII wanted a hotel grand enough for visiting royalty and did not much care what it cost, which is how Madrid got this building in 1910 to designs by Charles Mewes and Luis de Landecho. It closed in 2018, went through a restoration of roughly 103 million dollars, and reopened in April 2021 with 167 rooms and suites and interiors by Gilles and Boissier. The work recovered detail rather than inventing it: the painted sky ceiling in one of the suites was found, not commissioned. Quique Dacosta runs every outlet in the building, which is rarer than it sounds and shows up in places you would not expect, room service included. Deessa is the fine dining room. Palm Court sits under the glazed rotunda for breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea. Pictura handles cocktails. And El Jardin del Ritz, in the garden, has turned into a fixture of the Madrid dining calendar in its own right rather than a hotel terrace with parasols. There is a spa with treatment rooms and a fitness centre, and no pool. Book the view or do not book at all. Deluxe rooms start near 30 square metres, which is modest for 700 dollars, and the value climbs steeply and obviously as you move to the Prado facing and garden facing categories. The double glazing on the Paseo del Prado side genuinely works, so do not let a noise worry push you inwards. Plaza de la Lealtad 5 puts the Prado's Velazquez entrance two to three minutes away, the Thyssen five and the Reina Sofia about twelve, with Banco de Espana metro three minutes off. If you want the garden to yourself, take breakfast out there rather than dinner. The drawbacks are both about what you are paying for. There is no swimming pool at one of the two highest starting rates in this guide, which in a landlocked city at 33C in July is a real omission rather than a quibble. And the garden, the single best thing here, is shared with a public restaurant that books out, so on a warm evening the hotel's quietest asset is its busiest room. The score is 4.5 from 325 reviews. Take a Prado facing room, eat at Deessa once, and it is the most complete address in Madrid. > “It was so kind of Lucia to come by the reception to meet us – and that personal touch set the tone for the rest of our stay.” > > TripAdvisor review by AaronYeo, August 2026 The verdict - **+**Two to three minutes from the Prado's Velazquez entrance - **+**Dacosta oversees all four outlets, so even breakfast is properly cooked - **+**The walled garden is the best outdoor room of any hotel in central Madrid - **−**No swimming pool at one of the two highest rates here - **−**Deluxe rooms start near 30 square metres, which is small for the money From about USD$700 a night Rate checked 18 September 2026, standard room, midweek, before VAT Check rates[Official site ↗](https://www.mandarinoriental.com/en/madrid/hotel-ritz) 03\. Centro, at Canalejas between Puerta del Sol and the Paseo del Prado ### Four Seasons Hotel Madrid 4.5 on Tripadvisor, 466 reviews ![The restored bank buildings on the corner of Calle de Alcala that hold Four Seasons Hotel Madrid](/images/guides/madrid/2026/four-seasons-madrid-exterior-1200w.webp) ![The two storey lobby of Four Seasons Hotel Madrid with marble floors and columns](/images/guides/madrid/2026/four-seasons-madrid-lobby-1200w.webp) ![A guest room at Four Seasons Hotel Madrid with a tufted headboard and tall city windows](/images/guides/madrid/2026/four-seasons-madrid-guest-room-1200w.webp) ![The living room of the Royal Suite at Four Seasons Hotel Madrid with a marble fireplace and chandeliers](/images/guides/madrid/2026/four-seasons-madrid-suite-1200w.webp) ![The indoor swimming pool at Four Seasons Hotel Madrid under a full length skylight](/images/guides/madrid/2026/four-seasons-madrid-pool-1200w.webp) Seven linked historic buildings, including the old Equitativa bank, were stitched together to make the hotel The only full size hotel pool and spa in central Madrid, four minutes from Puerta del Sol Seven historic buildings on the corner of Calle de Alcala and Calle de Sevilla, including the old Equitativa bank, were stitched into one hotel that opened in September 2020 as the first Four Seasons in Spain. Over 16,000 original architectural elements were catalogued and put back, the Casa Maumejean stained glass survives, and much of the banking hall detail is still in the two storey lobby. There are 200 rooms, 39 of them suites, plus a 2,000 piece art collection that includes large KAWS sculptures and a red Porsche Panamera as the house car. This is the only hotel here with a wellness operation you could call serious. The spa runs to 1,450 square metres over four floors, the largest hotel spa in Spain, with eight treatment rooms, a couples suite, a 24 hour gym and a Rossano Ferretti salon. The swimming pool is 14 metres, indoors under a full length skylight, open from 7am to 9pm, with a sun terrace on the eighth floor beside it. Dani Garcia's Dani Brasserie is on the seventh floor with a terrace over the rooftops, Isa does modern Asian food, and El Patio occupies the bank's old operations courtyard. One thing to get right, and one to know. Entry level rooms start at about 37 square metres and a lot of them face an internal courtyard, which is quiet, dark and poor value at this rate; ask for a higher floor looking over the rooftops towards Cibeles and pay the difference. The thing to know is that the pool is limited to guests aged twelve and over, so with small children this is not the family answer it looks like on paper. Book the Dani Brasserie terrace for sunset a week ahead, because outside guests fill it. The real complaint is architectural. This is a hotel inside a shopping and residential complex and it reads that way from the pavement in. The entrance sequence is long, the lobby sits above a luxury mall, and the arrival never quite feels like arriving at a hotel. Puerta del Sol is four minutes away and the Prado twelve to fifteen, which is further from the art than the two above it. Its 4.5 from 466 reviews is a fair mark. Book it if you want a pool, a gym and a spa in the middle of the city. Nothing else here has all three. > “The hotel is an excellent restoration of an old building - the lobby and its ceiling in particular are beautiful.” > > TripAdvisor review by Wahoo, September 2026 The verdict - **+**A 14 metre indoor pool open all year, and the largest hotel spa in Spain - **+**Four minutes on foot from Puerta del Sol - **+**Dani Brasserie and its rooftop terrace are worth the walk in themselves - **−**The pool is indoors and limited to ages twelve and over - **−**It sits above a luxury mall, and courtyard entry rooms have no view From about USD$685 a night Rate checked 18 September 2026, standard room, midweek, before VAT Check rates[Official site ↗](https://www.fourseasons.com/madrid/) 04\. Centro, in the Austrias quarter by the Royal Palace ### Gran Melia Palacio de los Duques 4.8 on Tripadvisor, 2,079 reviews ![The courtyard garden at Gran Melia Palacio de los Duques with a stone fountain and the white palace behind](/images/guides/madrid/2026/palacio-de-los-duques-exterior-1200w.webp) ![Two chairs on the roof terrace at Gran Melia Palacio de los Duques looking towards the Almudena Cathedral](/images/guides/madrid/2026/palacio-de-los-duques-rooftop-1200w.webp) ![The glass roofed arcaded lounge at Gran Melia Palacio de los Duques with red velvet sofas](/images/guides/madrid/2026/palacio-de-los-duques-lounge-1200w.webp) ![The lobby at Gran Melia Palacio de los Duques with a large reproduction of Las Meninas behind the desk](/images/guides/madrid/2026/palacio-de-los-duques-lobby-1200w.webp) ![A dining room at Gran Melia Palacio de los Duques with coral walls, gold trim and velvet seating](/images/guides/madrid/2026/palacio-de-los-duques-restaurant-1200w.webp) The 19th century palace of the Dukes of Granada de Ega, with its garden kept intact A rooftop pool facing the Almudena, and 40 square metre rooms at half the Golden Triangle rate The nineteenth century palace of the Dukes of Granada de Ega became a Gran Melia in 2016, and the conversion kept the courtyard garden and its fountain intact rather than roofing it for function space. Velazquez is the decorative theme and it starts at the reception desk, where a large reproduction of Las Meninas hangs behind the clerks. There are 180 rooms: 140 standard, 20 Red Level and 20 suites, many built for families. The arithmetic is what puts it fourth. Entry rooms start around 40 square metres, which matches Rosewood Villa Magna at less than half the rate. The seventh floor terrace holds a swimming pool and a whirlpool and looks straight at the Almudena Cathedral and the Royal Palace, one of only two rooftop pools in these ten. Downstairs there are three restaurants and two cocktail bars, which is a lot for 180 rooms: Jardin de los Duques in the palace's former stables under chef Manuel Arenilla, Coroa Royal Gallery and Garden with its Portoro marble bar, and Montmartre 1889. The spa is run by Thai Room Wellness. Ask for a palace side room. The rooms over Cuesta de Santo Domingo catch noise from a street busier than it looks on a map; the palace side is quieter for no extra money. If you are travelling as a family, Red Level is worth the upgrade in a way club floors usually are not: its own arrival area and check in, a private lounge, and a dedicated seating and dining area inside the room rather than a tray on the desk. The Royal Palace and the Teatro Real are five minutes on foot, Plaza Mayor ten, Puerta del Sol nine, and Opera and Santo Domingo metro three. Two things temper it. The rooftop pool is small and opens seasonally, so the photograph that sells this hotel is unavailable for roughly half the year. If you are here between November and April, book it for the address and treat the roof as a terrace. And the Austrias streets around it are steep, narrow and thick with tour groups by mid morning, which is charming for a day and wearing by the third. The Prado is twenty minutes away, the furthest of any central hotel here. At 324 dollars with a 4.8 from 2,079 reviews, it is the value pick of the ten and it is not close. > “A 10/10 hotel, in terms of service and facilities we will definitely return” > > TripAdvisor review by Maria Isabel P, August 2026 The verdict - **+**Rooms of about 40 square metres at a mid range luxury rate - **+**One of only two rooftop pools here, facing the Almudena Cathedral - **+**Five minutes from the Royal Palace and the Teatro Real - **−**The rooftop pool is seasonal and closed for about half the year - **−**Twenty minutes on foot from the Prado, and tour groups from mid morning From about USD$324 a night Rate checked 18 September 2026, standard room, midweek, before VAT Check rates[Official site ↗](https://www.melia.com/en/hotels/spain/madrid/palacio-de-los-duques-gran-melia) 05\. Salamanca, on the Paseo de la Castellana ### Rosewood Villa Magna 4.6 on Tripadvisor, 910 reviews ![The entrance canopy and reflecting pool at Rosewood Villa Magna on the Paseo de la Castellana](/images/guides/madrid/2026/rosewood-villa-magna-exterior-1200w.webp) ![A Grand Premier room at Rosewood Villa Magna with a deep red panel behind the bed](/images/guides/madrid/2026/rosewood-villa-magna-guest-room-1200w.webp) ![The living room of the Villa Magna Suite with a chevron floor and pale sofas](/images/guides/madrid/2026/rosewood-villa-magna-suite-1200w.webp) ![A private terrace at Rosewood Villa Magna with outdoor sofas and a view over Salamanca rooftops](/images/guides/madrid/2026/rosewood-villa-magna-terrace-1200w.webp) ![A treatment room at Sense spa in Rosewood Villa Magna with slatted walnut walls and a stone tub](/images/guides/madrid/2026/rosewood-villa-magna-spa-1200w.webp) The set back entrance and water garden were rebuilt when the hotel became a Rosewood in 2021 The largest standard rooms in Madrid at about 40 square metres, and the highest rate in this guide The original Villa Magna opened on the Paseo de la Castellana in 1972 and was, for a long stretch, the hotel Madrid business was done in. Rosewood took it down to the frame and reopened it on 22 October 2021 with interiors by BAR Studio and 154 keys: 101 guest rooms, 49 suites and four signature suites. The gardens, with their century old cedar and carob trees, are maintained as a proper landscape rather than a planted courtyard. Rooms are the argument. Entry categories run to about 40 square metres, which in Madrid is unusual, with chevron parquet, a walk in wardrobe and a marble bathroom with twin basins. Amos, from the Michelin starred Jesus Sanchez, is a destination restaurant that happens to sit in a hotel. Las Brasas de Castellana handles all day Spanish grilling, Tarde.O is styled on an English club with a serious vermouth list, and Flor y Nata is the patisserie. The Sense spa has four therapy cabins, a hammam, a thermal area with a jacuzzi and a large fitness centre. It has no swimming pool. The practical note is which way you face. Castellana rooms get the light and the traffic noise in equal measure, and the quieter rear rooms are the better booking unless you want the boulevard view specifically. The Rosewood Associate system, which is butler service under another name, covers every room category rather than only the suites, so use it. Most guests never ask. Serrano and the shopping streets are two to five minutes away, Ruben Dario and Colon metro about five. Now the part that keeps it out of the top three. This is the highest starting rate in the guide at 791 dollars, it has no pool, and it is twenty to twenty five minutes on foot from the Prado with Puerta del Sol closer to thirty. That combination is defensible if your Madrid is Serrano, the Bernabeu and a long dinner. It is hard to defend if your days are built around the Golden Triangle, because you will either walk fifty minutes a day or spend real money on taxis, and you will do it from a hotel with nowhere to swim when you get back. The rooms and Amos are genuinely first rate. The address is a shopping district, and the rate does not acknowledge that. > “Every detail of the hotel is stunning, elegant, luxurious, warm, and beautifully curated.” > > TripAdvisor review by Fer R, June 2026 The verdict - **+**The largest standard rooms of any hotel in this guide, at about 40 square metres - **+**Amos holds a Michelin star and is a destination in its own right - **+**Butler style service on every room category, not just the suites - **−**The highest starting rate here, at USD$791, with no swimming pool - **−**Twenty to twenty five minutes on foot from the Prado From about USD$791 a night Rate checked 18 September 2026, standard room, midweek, before VAT Check rates[Official site ↗](https://www.rosewoodhotels.com/en/villa-magna) The luggage test What I pack it in ### Madrid is granite setts and station stairs. The Austrias streets around the Royal Palace are cobbled and steep, and Atocha has more steps than lifts. I spent a year testing the suitcases I actually travel with and wrote up which wheels survived. [Read the luggage test](/suitcases) ## Five more worth your money 06\. Salamanca, on Calle Velazquez ### Bless Hotel Madrid 4.7 on Tripadvisor, 950 reviews ![The rooftop terrace at Bless Hotel Madrid at sunset with tables and the Madrid skyline behind](/images/guides/madrid/2026/bless-hotel-madrid-rooftop-1200w.webp) ![The covered rooftop restaurant at Bless Hotel Madrid at dusk with red chairs and city lights](/images/guides/madrid/2026/bless-hotel-madrid-rooftop-restaurant-1200w.webp) ![A columned dining room at Bless Hotel Madrid with dried flowers and blue banquettes](/images/guides/madrid/2026/bless-hotel-madrid-restaurant-1200w.webp) ![A guest room at Bless Hotel Madrid with a green velvet banquette beside the bed](/images/guides/madrid/2026/bless-hotel-madrid-guest-room-1200w.webp) ![A suite at Bless Hotel Madrid with two beds, a plaster ceiling and a column](/images/guides/madrid/2026/bless-hotel-madrid-suite-1200w.webp) Picos Pardos, the rooftop, takes bookings from the public as well as guests One of only two rooftop pools in this guide, on top of the old Gran Hotel Velazquez Bless opened in 2019 inside the building that was the Gran Hotel Velazquez, kept the facade and threw almost everything else out. The result is 111 rooms that lean theatrical: parquet, strong colour, bold wallpaper, vintage furniture and very good beds. It is run as a lifestyle hotel rather than a grand one, with a young team, a music programme and late hours, and that is a decision rather than an accident. At 4.7 from 950 reviews it is doing it well. The roof is the reason to come. Picos Pardos Sky Lounge has a swimming pool in summer and, in winter, heated igloos and a glazed pergola, which is why it keeps trading when the pool closes. SLVJ does Japanese food with live music and a bowling alley hidden behind it. Pinzelada is the lobby lounge for all day eating, and Blessed Breakfast handles the morning. The spa is in the basement and is built around a wet circuit with a Bathology ritual and Beldon Beauty treatments, not lanes. Entry rooms are compact by five star standards, roughly 25 to 30 square metres, and the design carries more of the weight than the square footage does. The terrace categories on the upper floors are the booking that makes sense here: each has an outdoor room of its own and several put a roll top bath in the bedroom, and the gap in rate is smaller than the gap in experience. Velazquez and Nunez de Balboa metro are both within five minutes and the Serrano shops are three. The drawback is the roof, which is also the attraction. Picos Pardos sells tables to the public and books out, so on a warm Friday the lift is full of people who are not staying and the pool deck is not yours in any meaningful sense. Go up before noon or accept it. The second problem is seasonal and blunter: the pool opens in the warmer months only, so a winter guest is paying a Salamanca rate for a facility they cannot use, and the Prado is still twenty to twenty five minutes away with Puerta del Sol over thirty. Come here in June and it is one of the best value rooms in Madrid. Come in January and you are paying for a photograph. > “Everything is great! We will return when we visit Madrid.” > > TripAdvisor review by Gastronomía critic, September 2026 The verdict - **+**One of only two genuine rooftop pools in this guide - **+**The terrace room categories have private outdoor space and roll top baths - **+**SLVJ and Picos Pardos mean you do not have to leave for a good evening - **−**The rooftop is open to outside guests and books out on warm evenings - **−**The pool is seasonal, and entry rooms are 25 to 30 square metres From about USD$387 a night Rate checked 18 September 2026, standard room, midweek, before VAT Check rates[Official site ↗](https://www.blesscollectionhotels.com/en/bless-hotel-madrid/) 07\. Chamberi, on Calle Zurbano ### Santo Mauro 4.4 on Tripadvisor, 573 reviews ![The white palace facade of Santo Mauro behind palms and clipped hedges](/images/guides/madrid/2026/santo-mauro-exterior-1200w.webp) ![An aerial view of Santo Mauro showing the palace roofs and the walled garden around them](/images/guides/madrid/2026/santo-mauro-aerial-1200w.webp) ![The garden at Santo Mauro with a stone fountain, box hedging and gravel paths](/images/guides/madrid/2026/santo-mauro-grounds-1200w.webp) ![A guest room at Santo Mauro with a grey papered wall and a low upholstered bed](/images/guides/madrid/2026/santo-mauro-guest-room-1200w.webp) ![The blue salon of the Royal Suite at Santo Mauro with a chandelier and a marble fireplace](/images/guides/madrid/2026/santo-mauro-suite-1200w.webp) The 19th century home of the Duke of Santo Mauro, set back from Calle Zurbano behind its own garden A walled garden of chestnut trees and only 49 rooms, in a Chamberi palace of the 1890s This was built in the 1890s as the residence of the Duke of Santo Mauro, became a hotel in 1991, and relaunched as a Luxury Collection property after a redesign by Lorenzo Castillo. The 49 rooms sit across three buildings: the Duke's house, his daughter's mansion next door, and the converted stables. Around them is a walled garden of chestnut trees with gravel paths, box hedging and a stone fountain, in the middle of Chamberi, which is the entire argument for staying here and a good one. La Biblioteca occupies the Duke's library, kept the original floor to ceiling oak shelving, and is one of the better looking dining rooms in the city. There is a wine bar doing Mediterranean bistro food with conventional and natural wine, and a restored chapel that works as a private dining room with its own cellar. The Royal Suite runs to about 130 square metres with two bedrooms and butler service. For wellness there is a fitness room and treatments in the room. No pool, no spa. No two rooms here are alike and the choice is a real one. Palace rooms have the height, the cornices and tall windows onto the garden. Stable rooms are lower, quieter, and look onto lemon trees and the herb beds that supply the kitchen, and I would take one of those over a mid tier palace room every time. Some cheaper categories are genuinely small, so ask for the square metres rather than the category name. Ruben Dario metro is five minutes and the Bernabeu fifteen by taxi. The timing matters more: May to early July and late September are when the garden is worth the rate. Which points straight at the problem. In July and August the garden, the reason you booked, is unusable between noon and six, with no pool and no spa to retreat into. At 587 dollars that is a lot of money for a room and a shaded corner. The other issue is distance: the Prado is twenty five to thirty minutes on foot and Sol about twenty eight, so every museum day starts with a decision. Its 4.4 from 573 reviews is the joint lowest here, and reads as a hotel some guests adore and others find underequipped. Both are true at once. Book it in late spring, for two or three nights, as a couple. > “Incredible cozy garden in the heart of Madrid. Exquisite restaurant in this aristocratic mansion converted into a luxury boutique hotel.” > > TripAdvisor review by Ramon P, June 2026 The verdict - **+**A walled garden of century old chestnut trees in the middle of Chamberi - **+**Only 49 rooms, so the service is genuinely personal - **+**La Biblioteca sits in the Duke's restored library, oak shelving and all - **−**No swimming pool and no full spa at USD$587 a night - **−**Twenty five to thirty minutes on foot from the Prado From about USD$587 a night Rate checked 18 September 2026, standard room, midweek, before VAT Check rates[Official site ↗](https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/madlc-santo-mauro-a-luxury-collection-hotel-madrid/overview/) 08\. Alonso Martinez, on the edge of Chamberi and Justicia ### URSO Hotel and Spa 4.6 on Tripadvisor, 856 reviews ![The stone facade of URSO Hotel and Spa above the trees on Calle Mejia Lequerica](/images/guides/madrid/2026/urso-hotel-spa-exterior-1200w.webp) ![A bedroom at URSO Hotel and Spa with pale walls and tall windows over the street](/images/guides/madrid/2026/urso-hotel-spa-guest-room-1200w.webp) ![The sitting room of the URSO Suite with a blue and a green armchair and a low table](/images/guides/madrid/2026/urso-hotel-spa-suite-1200w.webp) ![The glass and timber staircase at URSO Hotel and Spa descending beside a gravel courtyard](/images/guides/madrid/2026/urso-hotel-spa-lobby-1200w.webp) ![A lounge at URSO Hotel and Spa with a photographic mural of old Madrid and a long banquette](/images/guides/madrid/2026/urso-hotel-spa-lounge-1200w.webp) A 1915 palace built for a paper company, now a 78 room hotel A Natura Bisse spa with a pool at USD$259, three minutes from four metro lines URSO occupies a stone palace of 1915 built for the Papelera Espanola paper company, converted into a 78 room hotel in 2014 and run as a Small Luxury Hotels of the World member. The conversion kept the stained glass, the tilework and the marble, and dropped a glass and timber staircase into the old central patio, still the best thing in the building. Note the address before you book anything else: this is Alonso Martinez, on the boundary between Chamberi and Justicia, not Chamberi proper. That puts Chueca and Malasana within ten minutes on foot and makes it far better placed for dinner than the Chamberi label suggests. The spa is why it is here. Natura Bisse runs it on the ground floor: a two person massage room, a hot and cold water circuit, water jets and a small pool for spa users. It is the only hotel under 300 dollars in this guide with any pool at all. Casa Felisa is the restaurant, Madrid cooking with a long wine and champagne list and a traditional cocido on Sundays, and it takes local bookings rather than a captive audience. The rooms are quiet, classically dressed and mid sized, with good soundproofing and tall sash windows, and several have small private balconies. The courtyard facing rooms are extremely dark and extremely silent, which divides people sharply; if you sleep badly in a dark room, say so at booking and ask for a street side balcony on Mejia Lequerica. Roughly a tenth are family rooms with connecting doors, more than most hotels this size bother with. Alonso Martinez metro is three minutes away on four lines, which here matters more than walking distance. The honest framing is that this is a boutique hotel in a residential quarter, not a landmark, and it should be judged that way. There is no view worth the name from any room. The pool is small and shared with day spa clients, so it is busy at weekends; book your treatment and your swim for a weekday morning and the place is effectively yours. The Prado is about twenty minutes on foot, Puerta del Sol nineteen and Gran Via twelve. At 259 dollars with a 4.6 from 856 reviews, it is the most spa you can buy in Madrid for the money, and the front desk will know your name by the second morning. > “The beds engulfed you like a blanket of clouds. The staff were beyond caring and kind.” > > TripAdvisor review by bellagina67, June 2026 The verdict - **+**A real spa with a pool at well under palace hotel money - **+**Alonso Martinez metro, on four lines, is three minutes away - **+**Small enough that the staff learn your name by the second day - **−**The pool is small and shared with day spa clients at weekends - **−**Courtyard rooms are very dark, and no room here has a view From about USD$259 a night Rate checked 18 September 2026, standard room, midweek, before VAT Check rates[Official site ↗](https://hotelurso.com/en/) 09\. Retiro district, facing Atocha station ### Only YOU Hotel Atocha 4.8 on Tripadvisor, 3,338 reviews ![The chequered red and white facade of Only YOU Hotel Atocha seen from the street](/images/guides/madrid/2026/only-you-atocha-exterior-1200w.webp) ![A close view up the balconied corner of Only YOU Hotel Atocha against a blue sky](/images/guides/madrid/2026/only-you-atocha-facade-detail-1200w.webp) ![The lobby at Only YOU Hotel Atocha with a library wall, a patterned floor and a long tan banquette](/images/guides/madrid/2026/only-you-atocha-lobby-1200w.webp) ![A guest room at Only YOU Hotel Atocha with a wooden headboard and a balcony window](/images/guides/madrid/2026/only-you-atocha-guest-room-1200w.webp) ![A junior suite at Only YOU Hotel Atocha with a corner window, a sofa and a red bench at the foot of the bed](/images/guides/madrid/2026/only-you-atocha-junior-suite-1200w.webp) Seven floors facing Atocha station, with the balconies picked out in red A minute from the high speed platforms, and at USD$115 the cheapest room in this guide Only YOU Atocha opened in March 2017 in a converted building at Paseo de la Infanta Isabel 13, directly opposite Atocha station, its balconies picked out in red against a chequered facade. One correction first, because almost every list gets it wrong: this is in the Retiro district. There is no administrative district called Atocha. That matters more than pedantry, because it means the Retiro park gate is five minutes from the front door and the Reina Sofia is eight. There are 206 rooms over seven floors, 114 Deluxe, 78 Premium and 12 junior suites, arranged around a glass roofed atrium that runs the full height of the building. Sep7ima is the seventh floor restaurant and rooftop terrace, looking over the roof of Atocha station, and it now trades to the public as one of the better known roofs in this part of the city. Trotamundos does international food and cocktails on the ground floor, and Breakery is a bakery and brunch counter run with Madreamiga. There is a gym. There is no spa and no pool. Skip the Deluxe rooms. They are small, plainly finished compared with the public spaces, and a number of them face the internal atrium rather than the street, which means no outside window at all. Premium adds the space and the window for a modest step up, and the twelve junior suites are the only category here with a proper sitting area. The other piece of advice is about trains: Atocha is the terminus for high speed services to Seville, Cordoba, Valencia and Barcelona, so if Madrid is one stop of several, this hotel saves you a cross city taxi on both the arrival and the departure. The plain version is that this is a four star lifestyle hotel and does not pretend otherwise, and it sits in a luxury guide because of where it is and what it costs rather than what it is. The public rooms are treated as neighbourhood spaces and stay busy with Madrilenos, which is excellent for atmosphere and poor for a quiet coffee at half past nine. No pool, no spa, small entry rooms. Set against that: 115 dollars, a 4.8 from 3,338 reviews, the Prado fourteen minutes away on foot and the Reina Sofia eight. Spend what you save on dinner. > “We loved it. Unbeatable treatment and the stay has been very pleasant.” > > TripAdvisor review by Jonathan S, August 2026 The verdict - **+**A minute from Atocha and the high speed train platforms - **+**The Reina Sofia is eight minutes on foot and the Prado about fourteen - **+**Far and away the lowest starting rate in this guide - **−**A four star lifestyle hotel rather than a luxury one, with no pool or spa - **−**Deluxe rooms are small and some face the internal atrium with no window From about USD$115 a night Rate checked 18 September 2026, standard room, midweek, before VAT Check rates[Official site ↗](https://www.onlyyouhotels.com/en/hotels/only-you-hotel-atocha/) 10\. Salamanca, on Calle Diego de Leon ### Heritage Madrid 4.9 on Tripadvisor, 495 reviews ![Sun loungers and planting on the roof terrace at Heritage Madrid](/images/guides/madrid/2026/heritage-madrid-terrace-1200w.webp) ![A laid table on the ivy covered terrace at Heritage Madrid with wrought iron chairs](/images/guides/madrid/2026/heritage-madrid-terrace-dining-1200w.webp) ![A junior suite bedroom at Heritage Madrid with a patterned runner and a dark wall](/images/guides/madrid/2026/heritage-madrid-suite-1200w.webp) ![The sitting area of a junior suite at Heritage Madrid with a writing desk and tall windows](/images/guides/madrid/2026/heritage-madrid-suite-sitting-area-1200w.webp) ![A guest room at Heritage Madrid with a brown tufted headboard and framed prints](/images/guides/madrid/2026/heritage-madrid-guest-room-1200w.webp) The roof has loungers and planting but no pool, which catches some guests out The highest guest scores in this guide, and the longest walk to the Prado Heritage opened in 2018 in a listed building of the early twentieth century in upper Salamanca, joined Relais and Chateaux, and has quietly collected the best guest scores of any hotel in this guide: 4.9 from 495 TripAdvisor reviews. Read those reviews and the pattern is unusual. Guests name individual members of staff rather than facilities, which for a 46 room hotel is the whole business model working as intended. Lorenzo Castillo did the interiors and did not hold back: lacquered wood, polychrome marble, handmade wallpaper, a chequerboard floor in the lobby, European antiques and eighteenth and nineteenth century paintings through the public rooms. Haroma is the restaurant, overseen by Mario Sandoval of the two star Coque, and from late spring the terrace eight floors above Diego de Leon is laid for dinner under the ivy. Massage treatments are available on request. There is no spa, and there is no pool. Book a junior suite or a corner room and do not talk yourself out of it. The entry categories are compact and, with that much wallpaper and that many antiques, can feel dark; the junior suites have tall windows onto Diego de Leon and proper sitting areas, and that is where the building opens up. Bathrooms throughout are marble and well equipped rather than large. Diego de Leon metro is two minutes away on three lines and Nunez de Balboa five, which is the practical answer to almost everything below. Because the position is the problem, and it is the reason this sits tenth. The Prado is about thirty minutes on foot and Puerta del Sol closer to forty, which makes Heritage the outlier of these ten rather than simply the furthest out. Upper Salamanca is handsome and residential and there is nothing wrong with it, but you are committing to the metro twice a day. The roof reads as a pool deck in photographs, with loungers and planting, and it has no pool, which catches guests out often enough that the hotel should say so louder. On a 35C afternoon in August there is nothing here to fall back on. If you have already seen the Prado, and you want an antique filled town house run by people who remember you, it is the best small hotel on this list at 236 dollars. > “I stayed at the heritage hotel for 2 weeks in July 2026. It was wonderful. I had an elegantly appointed corner suite with the most comfortable bed.” > > TripAdvisor review by jedbgold, July 2026 The verdict - **+**The best guest scores in this guide at 4.9 from 495 reviews - **+**Lorenzo Castillo interiors and real antiques, not hotel furniture - **+**Diego de Leon metro, on three lines, is two minutes away - **−**About thirty minutes on foot from the Prado and forty from Sol - **−**The roof is a terrace with loungers, not a pool, and there is no spa From about USD$236 a night Rate checked 18 September 2026, standard room, midweek, before VAT Check rates[Official site ↗](https://heritagemadridhotel.com/en/) ![Airalo logo](https://cdn.brandfetch.io/airalo.com/w/200/h/200/logo?c=1id1S46xxETYxelu0Ag) Staying connected ### Land with data already working. The taxi rank at Barajas is straightforward, but the metro ticket machines, the museum booking pages and the restaurant reservation apps all want a connection. I put a Spain eSIM on my phone the night before I fly. [See Airalo plans](https://airalo.tpx.lt/XJUpu9hS) ## Where to stay in Madrid, by area Madrid is a small city to stay in and a large one to live in. The ten hotels here sit inside a rectangle roughly three kilometres across, and the practical difference between them is fifteen or twenty minutes on foot rather than an hour in a car. That makes the area a softer decision than it is in most cities and a sharper one than it looks, because twenty minutes each way, twice a day, for four days, is most of an afternoon. The short version. The Golden Triangle around the Paseo del Prado if the art is the trip, which means The Palace or the Mandarin Oriental Ritz, because nothing else in this guide is inside it. Centro and Sol for the Four Seasons and a four minute walk to Kilometre Zero. The Austrias and Opera for the Royal Palace, Plaza Mayor and the best ratio of rate to facilities on this page. Salamanca for shopping, space and quiet, with the Prado a genuine twenty to thirty minutes away. Chamberi and Alonso Martinez for good restaurants and no tourists. Atocha, facing the station, if you are arriving on a high speed train. Two corrections to what you will read elsewhere. URSO is almost always filed under Chamberi; it is actually at Alonso Martinez, on the boundary with Justicia, which puts Chueca and Malasana within ten minutes and makes it better placed for dinner than the Chamberi label suggests. And Only YOU Atocha is in the Retiro district facing the station, not in a district called Atocha, which does not exist. That one matters because the Retiro park gate is five minutes from its door. Madrid areas compared on who they suit, walking times and the entry rate Area Suits Walking times From Golden Triangle and Paseo del Prado First visits and anyone here for the art Prado 2 to 5 min · Sol 10 to 17 min USD$455 Centro and Sol Walkers who want everything on the doorstep Sol 4 min · Prado 12 to 15 min USD$685 Madrid de los Austrias and Opera Royal Palace, Plaza Mayor and old Madrid Royal Palace 5 min · Prado 20 min USD$324 Retiro and Atocha Rail arrivals and museum days on a budget Reina Sofia 8 min · Prado 14 min USD$115 Barrio de Salamanca Shoppers, repeat visitors, families who want space Serrano 2 to 5 min · Prado 20 to 30 min USD$236 Chamberi and Alonso Martinez Quiet streets, good restaurants, no tourists Gran Via 12 min · Prado 20 to 30 min USD$259 Walking times are measured to the Prado's Velazquez entrance and to Kilometre Zero at Puerta del Sol. The metro cuts most of these to under fifteen minutes door to door, and every hotel in this guide is within five minutes of a station. ### Golden Triangle and the Paseo del Prado The Prado, the Thyssen and the Reina Sofia sit within a 15 minute walk of each other. The Palace and the Mandarin Oriental Ritz are inside this triangle; nothing else in this guide is. Best for first visits and anyone here for the art. ### Centro and Sol Busy, loud and central. Four Seasons sits at Canalejas between Sol and the Paseo del Prado, four minutes from Kilometre Zero. Best for walkers who want everything on the doorstep. ### Barrio de Salamanca Elegant and residential, and a genuine 20 to 30 minutes on foot from the Prado. Villa Magna, Bless and Heritage are all here, in descending order of proximity. Best for shoppers, repeat visitors and families who want space. ### Chamberi and Alonso Martinez Handsome residential streets with good restaurants and no tourists. Santo Mauro and URSO sit here; both are a metro ride or a long walk from the museums. Best for people who want quiet and a local neighbourhood. ### Madrid de los Austrias and Opera Steep narrow streets that fill with groups by mid morning. Gran Melia Palacio de los Duques is five minutes from the Royal Palace. Best for royal Palace, Plaza Mayor and old Madrid. ### Atocha and the southern Paseo del Arte Atocha station, the Reina Sofia and the Royal Botanical Garden are all within ten minutes. Only YOU Hotel Atocha is opposite the station. Best for rail arrivals and budget conscious museum visits. ## What the glossy lists do not tell you about Madrid hotel pools Every hotel in Madrid photographs its roof. Two of these ten have a swimming pool on it, and both of them close for the winter. Bless has one on top of Picos Pardos; Gran Melia Palacio de los Duques has one on the seventh floor facing the Almudena. The Four Seasons pool is 14 metres, indoors under a skylight, open 7am to 9pm and limited to guests aged twelve and over. URSO's is a small pool attached to its spa, shared with day clients. Six of the ten have no pool of any kind: the Mandarin Oriental Ritz, Rosewood Villa Magna, Santo Mauro, Heritage, Only YOU Atocha and The Palace. That includes the two highest rates here. This is the most common thing Madrid guides get wrong, and it costs people money. Heritage is the clearest example: loungers, planting, a terrace laid for dinner, photographs exactly like a pool deck, and no pool. August is when it bites. The top end gets cheap in August because business demand collapses, so the deals look excellent. It is also when the afternoon reaches 32C to 33C and many independent restaurants are closed for the holidays. A hotel with nowhere to swim between two and six is a different hotel in August than in May. The other number is the walk. From the Prado's Velazquez door it is two to three minutes to the Mandarin Oriental Ritz and three to five to The Palace. Then it jumps: twelve to fifteen minutes to the Four Seasons, fourteen to Only YOU Atocha, about twenty to URSO and Palacio de los Duques, twenty to twenty five to Rosewood Villa Magna and Bless, twenty five to thirty to Santo Mauro, thirty to Heritage. Puerta del Sol reorders it: the Four Seasons is four minutes from Kilometre Zero, the Mandarin Oriental Ritz seventeen. Decide which of the two your days revolve around, then read the table again: the hotels that win on one lose on the other. ## The value pick, and the one I would think hardest about Gran Melia Palacio de los Duques is the value pick and the case is arithmetic rather than taste. At about 324 dollars you get entry rooms of roughly 40 square metres, which matches the largest standard rooms here at less than half their rate, one of only two rooftop pools, three restaurants and two cocktail bars for 180 rooms, the Royal Palace five minutes away, and a TripAdvisor score of 4.8 built on 2,079 reviews. Nothing else on this page delivers that combination under 400 dollars. Take the trade seriously rather than waving it off. The pool is seasonal, so between November and April you are booking a location and a room, not a roof. The Prado is twenty minutes on foot, the longest walk of any central hotel here. And the Austrias streets fill with tour groups from mid morning, part of the appeal on day one and a nuisance by day three. If your trip is three days built entirely around the Golden Triangle, pay the extra for The Palace and walk to breakfast. The one I would think hardest about is Rosewood Villa Magna, and not because it is a bad hotel. It is a very good one. The rooms are the largest in Madrid, Amos holds a Michelin star, and the Rosewood Associate service runs on every category rather than just the suites. The problem is the bill set against the address: 791 dollars, the most expensive bed in this guide, no swimming pool, and twenty to twenty five minutes from the Prado in a shopping district. That is a lot of money to pay for a hotel whose own strongest argument is space. If Serrano and a long dinner are the holiday, book it without hesitation. If the museums are the holiday, the Mandarin Oriental Ritz costs ninety one dollars less and puts you two minutes from the Velazquez door, and that is the comparison the rate has to survive. Which of these to book, by what you actually want from the trip If you want Book Because Walking out of the door into the Prado and the Thyssen The Palace Madrid A 1912 grand hotel rebuilt for about 100 million euros and reopened in March 2025 The Golden Triangle, and a serious dinner downstairs mandarin-oriental-ritz-madrid Two minutes from the Prado's Velazquez door, with the best garden of any hotel in the city A first visit where everything has to work four-seasons-madrid The only full size hotel pool and spa in central Madrid, four minutes from Puerta del Sol Old Madrid, families, and the best rate to facility ratio here palacio-de-los-duques A rooftop pool facing the Almudena, and 40 square metre rooms at half the Golden Triangle rate Space, shopping and dinner at Amos rosewood-villa-magna The largest standard rooms in Madrid at about 40 square metres, and the highest rate in this guide Design, the roof, and a night out you do not have to leave for bless-hotel-madrid One of only two rooftop pools in this guide, on top of the old Gran Hotel Velazquez Couples who want a house party rather than a lobby santo-mauro A walled garden of chestnut trees and only 49 rooms, in a Chamberi palace of the 1890s Quiet nights, a spa, and a real neighbourhood urso-hotel-spa A Natura Bisse spa with a pool at USD$259, three minutes from four metro lines Train arrivals and museum days on a sane budget only-you-atocha A minute from the high speed platforms, and at USD$115 the cheapest room in this guide Repeat visitors who will use the metro without complaining heritage-madrid The highest guest scores in this guide, and the longest walk to the Prado ## Getting in from the airport Adolfo Suarez Madrid Barajas is 13km northeast of the centre, and the drive is usually twenty five to thirty five minutes. The important number is the taxi fare. Madrid taxis charge a fixed 33 euros between the airport and anywhere inside the M30 ring road, which covers every one of the ten hotels here, with no luggage surcharge and no surge pricing at any hour. You do not negotiate it, you do not watch a meter, and it does not change because it is raining. For an arrival in an unfamiliar city, that is worth more than a small saving. The trap is the arithmetic on the alternatives, which is worse than it looks. Metro line 8 runs from all four terminals to Nuevos Ministerios in about fifteen minutes, but it carries a 3 euro airport supplement on top of the normal fare and it does not reach the centre: you change at Nuevos Ministerios and carry your cases through the interchange. Cercanias line C1 runs from Terminal 4 only, to Chamartin and Atocha, which is excellent if you are staying at Only YOU Atocha and irrelevant otherwise. Because the 33 euros is per car rather than per person, the taxi beats the metro outright from three travellers up, and breaks even for two once you price the change and the stairs. Ride hailing apps are not covered by the fixed fare and will quote above it at peak. Two more things to plan for. Terminal 4 and its satellite T4S sit a ten to fifteen minute shuttle ride from Terminals 1 to 3, so if you are connecting between airlines, allow for a bus journey inside the airport that itineraries do not show you. And Atocha is the high speed terminus for Seville, Cordoba, Valencia and Barcelona, so if Madrid is one leg of a longer trip, the station you leave from is fifteen minutes on foot from the Prado and a minute from Only YOU Atocha's door. ## How this ranking was made Every hotel here was checked against the same five things: what the entry level room actually is in square metres, what is inside the building rather than nearby, how long the walk is to the Prado and to Puerta del Sol, what recent guest reviews complain about repeatedly, and what a standard room costs on a comparable date. Rates are the lowest standard room for two adults, all recorded on 18 September 2026 for midweek dates, so they compare with each other. They are not a promise about your dates, and they are quoted before VAT. TripAdvisor scores and review counts were read off each hotel's own page on the same day and are quoted with the count attached, because 4.9 from 495 reviews and 4.4 from 5,373 are not the same kind of number and should not be read as though they were. Pool and distance claims were checked against what each hotel publishes about its own facilities rather than against listing sites, which is why this guide disagrees with most of the others on the subject. Where a hotel has changed name, as The Palace did when it stopped trading as the Westin Palace in March 2025, this page uses the current name and says what the old one was, because the review scores and half the photography online still belong to the previous hotel. Every photograph on this page was opened and looked at before it was published, and every one comes from the property's own site or its brand's press library. That sounds like a low bar. It is the one this guide failed last time, and it is why the whole page was rebuilt. ## More from the hotel guides More ranked hotel guides from the same series. [Best luxury hotels in Barcelona Ten hotels ranked, with the city tourist tax written into every rate. › ](/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-barcelona)[Best luxury hotels in Lisbon Which hill you sleep on, and which ones you will regret. › ](/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-lisbon)[Best luxury hotels in Bangkok River or Sukhumvit, ranked on the traffic nobody costs in. › ](/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-bangkok)[Best luxury hotels in Washington DC Ten hotels ranked on the walk to the Mall and the price of parking. › ](/travel-guides/best-luxury-hotels-washington-dc) ## Madrid luxury hotel questions The questions that come up most often, answered with the detail rather than the brochure line. Which luxury hotels in Madrid actually have a swimming pool? Four of the ten in this guide. Bless and Gran Melia Palacio de los Duques have rooftop pools, both open in the warmer months only. Four Seasons Hotel Madrid has a 14 metre indoor pool under a skylight, open 7am to 9pm all year and limited to guests aged twelve and over. URSO has a small pool attached to its Natura Bisse spa, shared with day spa clients. The Mandarin Oriental Ritz, Rosewood Villa Magna, Santo Mauro, Heritage, Only YOU Atocha and The Palace have no pool at all. Which Madrid hotels have a rooftop pool? Only two of the ten here. Bless Hotel Madrid has one on its Picos Pardos Sky Lounge on Calle Velazquez, and Gran Melia Palacio de los Duques has a pool and whirlpool on its seventh floor terrace facing the Almudena Cathedral. Both are seasonal and closed through the winter, when Picos Pardos switches to heated igloos and a glazed pergola. Heritage Madrid has a roof terrace with loungers and planting but no pool, which catches a lot of guests out. Which Madrid luxury hotel is closest to the Prado? The Mandarin Oriental Ritz, at two to three minutes on foot from the Prado's Velazquez entrance, on Plaza de la Lealtad. The Palace is next at three to five minutes and is two minutes from the Thyssen. Those are the only two hotels in this guide inside the Golden Triangle. From there the walk jumps to twelve to fifteen minutes for the Four Seasons and about thirty for Heritage in upper Salamanca. Is The Palace Madrid the same hotel as the Westin Palace? Yes. The hotel on Plaza de las Cortes opened in 1912 and traded as the Westin Palace until it closed for a restoration costing about 100 million euros. It reopened in March 2025 as The Palace, a Luxury Collection Hotel, with the stained glass dome restored and all 470 rooms rebuilt. Some booking sites still list it under the old name, and a large share of its 5,373 TripAdvisor reviews describe the hotel before the restoration. What is the best value luxury hotel in Madrid? Gran Melia Palacio de los Duques, from about USD$324 a night. Entry rooms run to roughly 40 square metres, which matches the largest standard rooms in this guide at less than half the rate, and it has a rooftop pool, three restaurants, two cocktail bars and a score of 4.8 from 2,079 reviews. The Royal Palace and the Teatro Real are five minutes away. The trade is that the pool is seasonal and the Prado is a twenty minute walk. How much is a taxi from Madrid airport to the city centre? A flat 33 euros. Madrid taxis charge a fixed fare between Barajas and anywhere inside the M30 ring road, which covers every hotel in this guide, with no luggage surcharge and no surge pricing whatever the time or the traffic. The airport is 13km from the centre and the drive is usually twenty five to thirty five minutes. Because the fare is per car rather than per person, it beats the metro outright for three or more travellers. Does Madrid charge a tourist tax? No city tourist tax applied at the time of checking, which is a real difference from Barcelona and from much of Italy. Hotel rates in Madrid are quoted before VAT, so the number you see is not the number you pay, but there is no separate per person nightly levy collected at check out. Budget for VAT and for parking if you are driving, and nothing else. Where should I stay in Madrid on a first visit? Inside the Golden Triangle around the Paseo del Prado, which means The Palace from about USD$455 or the Mandarin Oriental Ritz from about USD$700. Both put you within five minutes of the Prado and the Thyssen and about ten to seventeen minutes from Puerta del Sol. If you would rather be nearer Sol and the shops, the Four Seasons at Canalejas is four minutes from Kilometre Zero, and it is the only central hotel with a full spa and pool. Is Salamanca a good area to stay in Madrid? It is elegant, residential and safe, and it is further from the museums than most guides admit. Rosewood Villa Magna is twenty to twenty five minutes on foot from the Prado, Bless twenty to twenty five, and Heritage about thirty with Puerta del Sol closer to forty. Serrano and the boutiques are two to five minutes from all three. Stay here if you are shopping or repeat visiting, and take the metro rather than walking to the Golden Triangle. Which Madrid hotel is best for families? Gran Melia Palacio de los Duques. Rooms start around 40 square metres, many are designed for families, and the Red Level rooms work as a hotel within a hotel with their own check in, a private lounge and a dedicated seating and dining area inside the room. It also has one of only two rooftop pools in this guide. URSO is the smaller alternative, with about a tenth of its 78 rooms set up as family rooms with connecting doors. Note that the Four Seasons pool is limited to ages twelve and over. When is the best time to visit Madrid? Late April, May, late September and October. Highs sit in the high teens to mid twenties, the daylight is long and the terraces are open. July and August reach 32C to 33C in the afternoon and most of the city stops between two and six, though August is the cheapest month at the top end because business demand collapses. January and February are cold, with highs of 10C to 12C, and quiet. Which Madrid hotel has the best restaurant? The Mandarin Oriental Ritz has the strongest line up, because Quique Dacosta oversees all four outlets including room service, and Deessa is the fine dining room. Rosewood Villa Magna has Amos from the Michelin starred Jesus Sanchez, and Heritage has Haroma under Mario Sandoval of the two star Coque. For a room rather than a menu, La Cupula at The Palace sits under a restored stained glass dome and serves from breakfast until late. [L ](/) Luxury Hotel Compare Independent reviews of the world's best hotels, written by someone who actually cares. 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