Review: Westin Palace Madrid Hotel

I stayed here back in May with a couple friends. We're not quite the ballers that Lucky is, so we *only* got a Junior Suite. I'll echo the author's review - this property was fantastic in just about every regard.
The staff was very professional- they were even friendly when they showed up at our room at 3am to tell us to keep the noise level down (we had a few people over for an after-party)

Also, it's within easy walking distance of the Prado Museum, great shopping, and other Madrid highlights.

I think what's wrong about accepting this comp is it's gotten you to privilege some hotel review content over other reviews you are likely never gonna publish. They bought that power over you.

You reviewed breakfast and even mentioned Continental separately, but I don't believe you mentioned what they offered you for Platinum breakfast.

Wouldn't it make a lot more sense to use the Citi Prestige card for a four night stay here? The Citi Prestige card would have saved you almost $300 on the stay, plus, you'd earn triple Citi Thank You points using the Prestige card (for hotel spend) which has to be a better return on what you earned using the Amex card.

Technically this a very interesting and thorough review of a beautiful hotel...after a massive upgrade to a giant suite...as a Platinum member.
Most guests will never be treated like this.
Looks like a great hotel but this review only touches on what a commoner might expect.

@LarryInNYC - pretty sure Lucky's stay was free - a comp for being part of SPG Amex Stars.

@Lucky, thanks for the review, I have a stay coming up in February and am pretty excited. I must say the exec suite looks much much nicer than the jr suite, so hopefully I can get upgraded to that.

@Lucky,
I was there with my family the same time you were there. Saw you having breakfast but didn't want to bother you. I concur with your review of the hotel. Not sure if you had the opportunity to meet Jorge Santos who works in the Rotunda. He provided amazing service to my family and worked with the chef to prepare a gourmet dinner for my youngest boy who has severe food allergies. They even made him a special egg free mousse for dessert. It was the best dinner of his life and he commented, "Dad, I think I like fancy." This hotel is probably one of the best managed out there. Kudos to the GM Pablo Flores for keeping such an incredible team. This is an old world hotel with solid service provided by professionals that take pride in their jobs.

I have stayed here during easter 2015 and i agree that the junior suite is very pleasent for two persons. Unfortunately there was a mix up and reception thought we were occupying with 4 so we got two extra beds and of all the amenitiesx4. It was actually funny and we didnt have the heart to tell them to rearrange the furniture back again.

Breakfast is excellent with choice enough for everyone, the waitstaff are very polite and fast on clearing dishes.

I do have to agree that if you stayed on a starwood invite you could have asked them to show you all possible room catagories to be reviewed and analyzed. I have asked before at Hyatts and Intercontinentals and dependent on occupancy they will try at least to show you the different rooms:standard/superior/deluxe or suites:junior/executive/special as to try to entice you to book with them for future plans or to at least make an informed decision for future reference.

I recently stayed here as well and would echo that even as a non-famous person I thought the service was really excellent across the board, and much better than the somewhat similar Westins in Paris, Berlin, and Rome.

I'm not sure I would agree that it should be a Luxury Collection property though. In my experience a lot of Luxury Collection properties are just ... a bit off. I certainly have never had one with service anywhere near as good as this hotel. I'd sooner put this in the ranks of "elite Westins", as there are some top-notch properties in the Westin portfolio. Westin Sydney being one for example.

I remember back in the day you said the only reason why you participated in the Stars programs was not for the comps, but because they would offer a giveaway for your readers every time you got a comped trip. I see that didn't happen this time

I always thought that line rang hollow - and I guess it does...

Snack Towers of [s]Sadness[/s] Hapiness 🙂
Reminds me of the United Club -- those towers look a bit like the United Club one.
However, the stuff inside looks much much better.
I'm drooling at the churros.
Can you please keep me one next time you go?
Jk 🙂

I have stayed at The Palace 12 times. My first visit was in 1976 and was also my first visit to Spain. The hotel has had only minor changes since then and I totally agree with you that the service and ambience is incredible. The breakfast in the rotunda was one of my favorite things to start the day. Since I am only SPG Gold, my upgrade was to a superior room on a high floor , but with a great view of the Neptuno fountain.
I have an upcoming stay in March and am looking forward to it. It comes at the tail end of a two month stay in Torremolinos.If you ever want some restaurant suggestions let me know.

Memories! My wife and I were there almost 9 years ago and we brought my son, daughter-in-law and their almost 2 year old. We were upgraded to the top floor sweet - upper left rotunda as you look at the building - and our son was upgraded to a connecting Junior Suite. Yes, I was a Platinum but this was basically a 2 bedroom apartment sans kitchen. It was magnificent - three wonderful nights we won't soon forget. We were finishing up a week in Marbella. Great, great memories.

Thanks for the review; been looking at this prop for a possible upcoming trip.

Lucky, on a scale of 1 (not at all) to 5 (extremely), how likely is it that the hotel or other parties responsible for getting you the upgrade did so because of your blogger status and/or the positive publicity such an upgrade would garner for them?

@ Hans Mast -- Platinums were offered the full buffet in the restaurant, or the option for a Continental room service delivery.

@ Geoff @ mdtravel -- This hotel is known for fantastic treatment of SPG Platinums. When I checked in (~10 hours after Ben), the front desk agent apologized for not having a full suite to offer me, and pulled out a schematic of all the rooms so I could select the Junior Suite that looked most appealing. So I think other elites at least would have a similar experience.

@ TrvlGuru -- Next time say hi!

Stayed there a few days later and whilst my room was no where near as nice or large, it was similarly appointed. I booked through AMEX FHR and the breakfast was included as well as a three course meal for two in the rotunda. Not a place I would usually dine in Madrid but it was lovely! Could pic anything off the menu and included drinks (non-alcoholic). Also was given a coupon for 'two for the price of one' on drinks in the bar as a part of being SPG gold and considering the price it was appreciated (€21 for a G&T, albeit a large one!)

I have a few thoughts:

1) Some aspects look old and tired. Especially the fixtures and little decor things. For example, the countertops in the bathrooms. The trash bins, the tissue paper box, and so forth also look out-of-place for the otherwise palatial decor. The carpeting in the living room looks tired.

2) The placement of the desk is unusual. You'd think they would have it by a window.

3) Was the free coffee delivered promptly? The picture you posted says you receive a cup, but you apparently received a pot. Is this standard? And is it only for SPG platinums? Was there no coffeemaker in the room? I'd actually prefer coffee delivered because I don't think the in-room drip coffeemakers and cups are ever clean. I've seen those undercover TV shows on hotel housekeeping.

4) The buffet looks halfway decent for breakfast, although some of the food doesn't look like it is being kept cold or refrigerated by anything. That's a huge food safety concern.

5) Were any bathrobes or slippers provided?

6) The junior suite doesn't look like a suite, except for the sofa couch.

7) What was the TV channel like? Nothing worse than being stuck in a foreign, non-English-speaking country and not having anything but CNN International to watch in English.