OPebble

I stay there regularly. Location is ideal. Across the Paseo del Prado from the Prado, right next to the Thyssen and a short walk back up the hill to old Madrid and Plaza Mayor.

Ask for an upper floor and/or a view over the Neptune fountain (where the picture on the web site is taken from), but that said the double glazing is very good.

jbalmuth

My wife and I just ended a 2-night stay at this location, also on cash and points, and it included a preposterous situation unprecendented in our experience. Our double room on the 5th floor was adjoining to a suite where a large group of pre-teens were raucously playing. The room doors here are very heavy affairs, which close very noisely unless extreme care is taken, and needless to say, the bosterous kids were not taking such care. When I stuck my head out to see what was going on, a couple of room service carts were being removed, and I asked how many kids were in the suite....and was informed that there were 11! I called down to the duty manager to enquire about alternatives if the noise continued, and was informed that the large group of kids were assigned to 5 rooms on the floor, and had been in residence for 2 weeks....and that if the loud noise continued past 10pm that I should call back.

It was an unprecented situation, that generated neither an apology nor even an acknowledgement from the hotel management that screaming 3, 4, and 5 year olds running through the halls, slamming doors, and singing/shouting/playing loudly in their communal room might be disruptive to our enjoyment of our accomodation (which had an adjoining door). The location of the property is outstanding, but management is run of the mill Westin, and the room wasn't worth a penny more than $90. Forewarned is forearmed.

JFKSFOLAX_friend

That is pretty horrendous. I know Cheap Elite will disagree, but I would file a complaint with Customer Care. (CE would demand that all complaints be filed at the property. But, this is pretty awful.)

izzik

just completed a very nice stay here with C+P (2 nights).
was upgraded to an exec suite (HUGE!) on the 6th floor.
the live opera sunday brunch is a pricey splurge but very tempting indeed.
overall, a great stay in a charming hotel.

travelexpert

Have all the rooms now been updated?

Also--does Gold status stand a good chance of being upgraded to executive level?

more4less

Stayed there in September 2009 and the room we had it was renovated, but the bed(queen size) a bit small for two.

As Gold for aprox 2.5 years, I have never been upgraded to Executive level.

In Spain(Maria Cristina San Sebastian and Westin Palace Madrid), they gave us an upgrading to a better room, which is more I have experience in other countries.

OPebble

The one year that I was Gold, I never noticed an upgrade although the room might have been slightly larger. BTW there is no Executive level. There ARE SPG floors but the rooms are identical to lower floors.

However as a Platinum I always get an upgrade to a Suite. The size of the suite varies depending how busy they are. In 10 years of staying at the Palace I have never been upgraded to the Royal Suite - sob, sob!

escog

Just got back from a 4 night stay. As noted in other reviews, the location is excellent. As a Gold member, I was upgraded to a "premium view" room which is essentially a high-floor room with a view of the Neptune fountains. I had room 629, and the view was very good. The double-glazed windows do keep out most of the noise, but the night after Spain beat Germany in the World Cup, I could hear the car horn honking around the Neptune fountain late into the night.

The room was good size, and I got my amenities of two bottles of water and a newspaper every day. There were apples available near the elevators every morning, too. Wi-fi was something like 13 Euros for 1 hour or 15 Euros for 24 hours. The service was good - never had to carry my luggage up any stairs, as somebody always ran up and took them for me. Everybody was polite and responsive.

There's a Starbucks and a VIPS around the corner. Both give you 45 minutes of free internet with purchase. VIPS is a cafe/snack shop, so if you don't feel like walking up to the Cortes Ingles, it's a good place to pick up beverages and snacks.

I watched the world cup in the hotel bar - one flat screen tv and really expensive drinks (10 Euros for an 8 ounce coke?!).

EleanorMcDaniel

I am here now, and have been since Sunday.

Quite an experience to be in Madrid and seeing Spain win the World Cup final. The horns were honking all night.

We were put into a very large two room suite on the 6th floor. I am a platinum, and as it was a special occasion, there was a lovely treat waiting in the room upon arrival, courtesy of the hotel manager and my Starwood Ambassador. We were treated royally even though this was a points stay.

Our room has a balcony, but the door was locked. We had to sign a release waiver to get them to open the door so we could use the balcony! No problem, but I guess they have lawyers on every corner in Madrid as well.

Yes, the bed in the suite is a queen, not a king. We managed just fine.

We had room service one night, and it was excellent. Delivered on time and hot, it was a spectacular meal, far above Room Service standards in the USA (especially at a Westin).

One night we at at the restaurant downstairs that surrounds the rotunda. Aptly named "La Rotonda," we had a beautiful full service meal with appetizers, main courses, a dessert to split, and two glasses of wine for about €100, which is not cheap, but it was a lovely meal.

The Prado and Botanical Gardens are right across the street (EUR€8 and €2.5 respectively) and both hugely worth the money and time. Thyssen is right next door too.

I will comment that the taxi from the airport showed €25 on the meter, but he insisted upon €40 due to the bags and some sort of airport fee. My Spanish is not that good, and I couldn't win that argument. Truthfuly, I had budgeted €50 for the taxi ride so it was ok. In Switzerland that taxi ride would have been twice my budget.

Note as mentioned several times, there is no pool, unfortunately.

All in all, a lovely hotel.

escog

According to my Rick Steves guidebook, the 5.50 Euro airport fee is legal, but there is NO luggage fee. According to my Maribel guide, the luggage fee was dropped in January of '02. The recommendation is to be very firm about not paying the luggage fee - it's not legal. It's also recommended to ask for a "recibo oficial" - an official receipt, since this will help keep the taxi driver honest. I imagine you could have gotten the hotel doorman to help you with the argument.

I took the metro to get to the airport, and it took a solid hour - 5-10 minute walk to Puerto del Sol metro station and 2 line changes. However, it only cost 2 Euros.

genoval

I need the email of the Palace. Hope somebody knows it. Thank you.

Starwood Lurker

Other than the one on their Contact Us page?

https://www.starwoodhotels.com/prefe...?propertyID=79

Just click on EMAIL US if you use Outlook. If you don't, just use [email protected] in your email provider of choice.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

Iamhappy

Never been to Madrid before, planning on arriving on 7th October for a quick visit, leaving on 8th October.

Looked at spg.com, it seems that there are only 2 *wood properties in Madrid: 1. Westin Palace, Madrid and 2. Sheraton Santa Maria de El Paular.

Westin Palace is asking for EUR 400 (including Tax) , can't use Starpoints to redeem, and needless to say C&P isn't available . Guessing that a lot of the rooms have already been booked.

Sheraton SMdEP is quoting EUR 89, can use Starpoints as well as C&P, which is wicked . But since it is 55km away from Madrid, with the limited time I have, would prefer somewhere closer to the city.

From experience, will they release availability to book using Starpoints at the Westin Palace closer to October?

Trying to seek opinions on whether I should wait for availability at the Westin Palace, or should I start exploring for another hotel (the IHG F&F promotion looks like a viable option, with IC at EUR 120, HI at EUR 110, or a HI-Ex at EUR 40)? Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

(As an aside, there will be 2 of us, on our honeymoon).

Thanks.

TRAVELSIG

Iamhappy- did you check calling SPG to see if there are options available? Sometimes you can pay more points and get a better room class (i.e. the one that is available)- it is a very good deal when the hotels are at full price (I did exactly that for an upcoming stay in Vienna when the cheapest rate was 414 EUR- was able to redeem 11000 points per night for an executive king room- could not see availability online as standard rooms at 10000 points were sold out).

Iamhappy

Travelsig, I have spoken to SPG a few days ago, and was told that they are completely booked/sold out. Obviously I don't mind paying more points if I was getting a better room (it's only a 1 nighter anyway). Anyway, I will call them again over the weekend and see if availability magically appears (fingers crossed). Thanks.