The capital has stepped on the accelerator of high purchasing power tourism. Madrid’s vocation as a great European capital, even a world capital, has been consolidated in recent years and towed by those who travel to it in search of haute cuisine, business, select products, international fairs, and renowned shows, its hotel sector also has picked up speed taking advantage of a tailwind that has turned Madrid into a desired city.
With new five-star openings, major renovations to existing establishments, and a general change in philosophy where luxury hotels also want to attract non-guests to convert them into new customers, the sector is experiencing a very sweet moment.
1. Bless Madrid
This hotel symbolizes, in a way, what has happened to Madrid in the last decade. The city has become modernized, and sophisticated and has even added a new type of night to its catalog: elegant rabble. This has been achieved thanks to new entertainment venues, restaurants, and especially establishments like this one: the old Gran Hotel Velázquez, one of those considered “of all life”. Thanks to the Ibizan group Palladium, it has radically changed its appearance and has taken advantage of its privileged location to become one of the hot spots in the city.
With Bless, Palladium has created a new brand that it considers hedonistic luxury and has wanted to take meticulous care of all the details. Proof of this is that the two establishments with this name, in Ibiza and Madrid, are part of the Leading Hotels of the World, a hotel consortium of fewer than 500 members in which each applicant hotel must necessarily be classified in the category of luxury of the country to which it belongs and meet a series of specifications that include several hundred criteria of comfort, equipment, and services that are thoroughly and regularly evaluated.
The hotel opened in 2019 and was a complete success. Then, the forced closure of 2020 was seen as an opportunity to fine-tune details in the decoration, distribution of public spaces, and rethinking the restoration. It was a complete success for this hotel with 111 cozy rooms, of which 30% are suites and four are curious independent villas. A staff that is a real treasure in terms of professionalism and know-how, an amazing bar with a bowling alley in the basement, and a charming garden on the roof make this a sensational and enjoyable hotel.
2. Urso Hotel & Spa
The journalist and editor Nicolás María de Urgoiti y Achúcarro joined his business destiny to that of Rafael Picavea y Leguía, also a journalist and politician. Both founded the Spanish paper mill in the city of Bilbao in 1901. The two, at the helm of 14,000 workers, built a business group based on the production of paper, written press, and publishing houses. Success forced them to have two delegations to consolidate their presence throughout Spain: one in Barcelona and another in Madrid. In the case of the capital, in 1915 the company erected an elegant neoclassical building in the heart of the Las Salesas neighborhood.
The paper mill did not live to be a century old and its Madrid delegation changed hands several times, even becoming the headquarters of an extinct far-right party, although that and the paper business are left behind in the history of an exquisite hotel that opened its doors in 2014 with the desire to be an establishment fully integrated into its adopted neighborhood and not a hotel flying saucer landed in the heart of the city.
El Urso is a highly recommended address for a trip to Madrid, whether for leisure, work, or business: its staff, in a perfect balance between the informal and the sober, the decoration or the conservatory for breakfast that fabulously makes even day rain boots, are notable features of the house. Also noteworthy are the details of the rooms, full of nods to the Salesas neighborhood itself and, of course, where a good night’s sleep is guaranteed. The rooms that overlook the gardens of the neighboring Villagonzalo palace have a special charm, as is a small and surprising spa that has been installed in a very clever way, taking advantage of every inch of the basement of this historic building.
3. Mandarin Oriental Hotel Ritz
The second Mandarin Oriental hotel in Spain is closely linked to Alfonso León Fernando María Jaime Isidro Pascual Antonio de Borbón y Habsburgo-Lorena, better known as King Alfonso XIII. And it is that the monarch himself contributed part of the capital for the constitution of a company that would be in charge of the construction of a Ritz in Madrid. The existence of hotels on a par with other major European capitals was a fixation of that head of state after having stayed at the legendary Ritz in Paris and London.
Opened 112 years ago, the Plaza de la Lealtad is one of the oldest establishments in Europe. With such a long history, this house has had moments of splendor and other more discreet ones. On the positive side, which is the one you have to stay with today, this hotel has hosted international summits, it has been the temporary home of celebrities from all over the world in the Spanish capital and its walls recall everything good, chic or spectacular that can be imagined in a historic five-star hotel that since 2015 has been part of the Mandarin Oriental group.
The entry of new investors and the management of the brand revitalized a hotel that, despite its prestige, needed to revive its splendor. It has been more than achieved: an ambitious reform has made the building look even more spectacular and become a desired place, both for guests and for locals and people passing through, because sleeping there or enjoying its rooms rounds off a day in Madrid. with an exquisite luxury that is not only aesthetic but also sensory and thanks to a staff of ten that anticipates the wishes of guests and clients and the commitment to the best cocktail bars and gastronomy of Quique Dacosta, a current advisor to the house in this transcendental aspect for a five star.
4. Hotel Santo Mauro Madrid
The residence of Mariano Fernández de Henestrosa y Ortiz de Mioño, Duke of Santo Mauro was built in 1902 by the architect Juan Bautista Lázaro de Diego. The building is still owned by the family, although it was converted into a hotel by Antonio Catalán, creator of the NH and AC Hotels brands. The latter is integrated into the giant Marriot as one of its 30 brands. The completion of some delicate reforms at the end of last year made it rethink its position in the luxury market and the Santo Mauro is now one of the 123 establishments around the world with The Luxury Collection seal, also by Marriott.
5. Eurostars Seville Tower
This is a great little gem with 49 rooms in the heart of the Chamberí neighborhood. Architecturally, it is a set of three buildings that in its day also became a diplomatic legation for three different countries: Canada, Romania, and the Philippines. To update it while respecting the past, Alicia Catalán, the hotelier’s daughter, recruited an eclectic team made up of a chef, Rafa Peña, and a decorator, Lorenzo Castillo. She also signed the landscaper Fernando Valero, María Covarrubias, an architect specializing in lighting, and Lucas Vidal, a composer. And it is that, if some hotels ask a specialist to create an aroma, in the Santo Mauro they had a musician create a soundtrack for the hotel. There is nothing.
Everything in this great little hotel is exquisite: its kitchen, its ornate and cozy rooms with silks, velvets, mirrors, and noble woods. To highlight a wonderful garden improved in recent months. This is one of those secrets of Madrid that is accessible to clients and locals received by a staff that attends to each guest and each visitor to make them feel at home. A perfect house.
