Originally Posted by
pillow25
The hotel is about a 30 min Metro/Bus ride from the Prado and Retiro park but is very close to the Natural Science museum. Overall, the hotel is located in a more business-district area of Madrid. When we were there, the area around the hotel was fairly sleepy (many shops were closed and restaurants did not open until 1-1:30).
The continental breakfast for Globalists and GOHs is supposed to be in the Hyatt Regency club on the 1st floor, but I was escorted to the restaurant when I went downstairs the next morning. Awkwardly, my GF who came down after me was escorted to the actual club, but she presented the business card that contained the breakfast details to the person running the host stand. My breakfast was outstanding; the restaurant buffet spread had eggs, bacon, sausage, Iberico ham, and various pastries. The club breakfast was a continental (no hot items) and had a more limited selection of cold cuts. Regardless, no breakfast charges appeared on the bill.
Overall - I liked this hotel (aside from the awkward breakfast issue) and would return if convenient. The fact that this was only 12K points (normally 15K as a Cat 4) as opposed to the 17K (normally 20K as a Cat 5) Gran Via Hyatt made this better.
So there is an executive lounge at this property? As an Explorist, I'm trying to decide whether it's worth staying here. For tourist purposes, the location doesn't seem the best, but I can be "bribed" by free food and drink.
We have stayed at the Hesperia Tower in Barcelona (the one the previous poster was confused about) and their lounge is nice, but not very good for evening tapas (unfortunate, because I like a light tapas dinner in Spain after eating an enormous "menu del dia" at 2 or 3 in the afternoon). What's the situation in Madrid?
In Barcelona, we discovered that if you showed up for breakfast before 8 am, they sent you to the main restaurant because the lounge is still technically closed. Perhaps that's what happened during your stay in Madrid? BTW, at first glance the Barcelona lounge had no hot food for breakfast, but I understand they will bring you dishes from the restaurant for free if you ask. Not sure if that's the situation in Madrid. In any event, it's better to have breakfast in the main restaurant.