I’ve long wanted to visit the Westin Palace Madrid, which I’ve heard great things about. There are more expensive and higher category Starwood hotels out there, though this one made the most sense for me:
- I had never been to Madrid before, though had visited several other cities in Spain
- The Westin Madrid is gorgeous, and I’ve heard great things about it; while it has the Westin name, it’s anything but cookie-cutter
- Madrid is an easy enough one-stop destination from Los Angeles
It’s worth noting that the Westin Palace Madrid is a Category 5 Starwood property, making a free night redemption 12,000-16,000 Starpoints per night. Keep in mind that if you redeem points for a five-night redemption, the fifth night is free.
In my instance the rate was paid by the SPG Amex, and it was ~260EUR per night.
Upon landing in Madrid I took a taxi from the airport to the hotel, which took about 25 minutes. Madrid taxis have a flat rate of 30EUR to/from the airport, for what it’s worth.
The hotel’s exterior was gorgeous. The hotel is over 100 years old, so has an exterior that looks classic without being run down.
Westin Palace Madrid Hotel exterior
The property is equally gorgeous at night.
Westin Palace Madrid Hotel exterior
Upon arriving at the hotel I was assisted by the bellman and directed to the check-in desk, but not before noting the signage on the outside of the hotel.
Westin Palace Madrid Hotel entrance
I love how it had both the original Palace Hotel branding, which was over 100 years old…
Westin Palace Madrid Hotel signage
…while it also had the Westin branding. I find it sort of interesting that there are several Westin hotels in Europe which are in unique historic buildings. Generally I would assume those kinds of hotels would be Luxury Collection rather than Westin, but that’s not the case here.
Westin Palace Madrid Hotel signage
The hotel’s lobby was equally gorgeous and classic, with a lot of the original features from over 100 years ago.
Westin Palace Madrid Hotel lobby
Westin Palace Madrid Hotel lobby
The reception desk was located to the left of the entrance, where I was helped immediately. I arrived at the hotel fairly early, at around 8AM, so my room wasn’t quite ready yet. However, they processed my check in and suggested I come back in a couple of hours, at which point my room should be ready.
I had a seat in the lobby and got caught up on some work using the hotel’s free Wi-Fi (no password was required), and within about an hour the same associate who checked me in approached me with the keys for my room.
Westin Palace Madrid Hotel lobby
I took the elevator up to the second floor, where my room was located. Since this is a 100+ year old hotel, the elevators are on the small side, presumably as they’re the original ones.
Westin Palace Madrid Hotel elevators
On the second floor I found a beautiful seating area by the elevators.
Westin Palace Madrid Hotel elevator seating
I turned right and walked down to the end of the hallway, where I found my suite, #223, on the left.
Westin Palace Madrid Hotel hallway
The suite had double doors, which is how you know you’re in for a nice hotel stay.
Westin Palace Madrid Hotel Executive Suite entrance
I had been upgraded to an executive suite, which was rather huge.
Westin Palace Madrid floorplan
The suite featured a foyer past the entrance, with a guest bathroom to the left.
Westin Palace Madrid Executive Suite foyer
The guest bathroom had a sink and toilet, and some rather quirky wallpaper.
Westin Palace Madrid Executive Suite guest bathroom
Westin Palace Madrid Executive Suite guest bathroom
Past the foyer was the massive living room. The living room had a couch with two chairs and a coffee table in the center of it.
Westin Palace Madrid Executive Suite living room
Westin Palace Madrid Executive Suite living room
The seating area faced a flat screen TV.
Westin Palace Madrid Executive Suite living room
Then to the right of the entrance was an oval dining table with four chairs. Past that was the minibar and complimentary bottled water, which was replenished daily.
Westin Palace Madrid Executive Suite dining table
Westin Palace Madrid Executive Suite living room
The room faced the Fuente de Neptuno. Even though I was “only” on the second floor and facing a busy roundabout, street noise was limited, so I guess the hotel’s sound insulation is quite good, especially for an old hotel.
Westin Palace Madrid Executive Suite living room view
Past the living room was an office area with a desk, and then the bathroom to the left.
Westin Palace Madrid Executive Suite office
The desk was rather simple, and was near a window.
Westin Palace Madrid Executive Suite office
Past the office area was the bedroom, which featured a super comfortable king size Westin Heavenly Bed. I loved the quirky wallpaper in the bedroom, and especially appreciated having a “proper” Westin bed.
Westin Palace Madrid Executive Suite bedroom
Next to the bed was a small seating area with two chairs next to the window.
Westin Palace Madrid Executive Suite bedroom
Westin Palace Madrid Executive Suite bedroom view
The suite’s main bathroom featured two sinks, a tub, a shower, and a toilet/bidet.
Westin Palace Madrid Executive Suite bathroom
Even though this is a “historic” hotel, the showerheads were typical of the Westin brand, so had excellent water pressure.
Westin Palace Madrid Executive Suite shower
Westin Palace Madrid Executive Suite shower
Westin Palace Madrid Executive Suite toilet & bidet
The hotel also has the standard Westin amenities and toiletries.
Westin Palace Madrid Executive Suite bathroom amenities
Overall I thought the room was stunning. Not only did I get a great upgrade, but I appreciated that the decor was unique and original without being run down.
Wifi in the room was fast, and I especially loved the below amenity. There was a card in my room indicating that the Westin offers complimentary room service coffee, which is awesome. This is the first time I’ve seen this at a Westin, as it’s something I’m only used to experiencing with butler service at the St. Regis.
Westin Palace Madrid complimentary coffee
As a massive coffee addict, I thought it was awesome, and took advantage of it every day. Each time I was brought a pot of coffee with some chocolates. I wish more hotels would offer something like this.
Westin Palace Madrid complimentary coffee
For what it’s worth, Tiffany arrived later that same day and got upgraded to a junior suite on a higher floor, #537.
Westin Madrid Junior Suite entrance
The room was also beautiful, and it consisted of a single large room with a king size Westin Heavenly Bed, a couch, a desk, and a chair by the window.
Westin Madrid Junior Suite
Westin Madrid Junior Suite
Westin Madrid Junior Suite
Westin Madrid Junior Suite
The bathroom also featured double sinks, a shower, a bathtub, and a toilet.
Westin Madrid Junior Suite bathroom
Westin Madrid Junior Suite shower
Westin Madrid Junior Suite shower
Westin Madrid Junior Suite toilet
As an SPG Platinum member I chose the complimentary breakfast as my Platinum amenity, in lieu of 500 Starpoints. That benefit consists of full breakfast at La Rotondo Restaurant, which is the hotel’s restaurant located right off the lobby.
Westin Madrid La Rotondo Restaurant
The restaurant is under a dome and couldn’t be more gorgeous.
Westin Madrid La Rotondo Restaurant
Like, it’s stunning.
Westin Madrid La Rotondo Restaurant
The restaurant serves breakfast daily from 7AM until 11AM, and we usually had breakfast on the early side.
Westin Madrid La Rotondo breakfast
The breakfast buffet is quite good. It’s certainly not up to what you might get at a Starwood property in Asia or the Middle East, though for Europe it was definitely above average.
There was a good continental selection, including pastries, muffins, croissants, cereal, yogurt, cold cuts, fresh fruit, etc.
Westin Madrid breakfast buffet
Westin Madrid breakfast buffet
Westin Madrid breakfast buffet
Westin Madrid breakfast buffet
Westin Madrid breakfast buffet
Westin Madrid breakfast buffet
Westin Madrid breakfast buffet
Westin Madrid breakfast buffet
Then there was also a good selection of hot options, including churros, scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, quiche, pancakes, waffles, and even samosas.
Westin Madrid breakfast buffet
Westin Madrid breakfast buffet
Westin Madrid breakfast buffet
Westin Madrid breakfast buffet
Westin Madrid breakfast buffet
To work off the breakfast buffet, the hotel has a 24 hour gym, which can be accessed through the sixth floor. The gym is actually on the seventh floor, but to access it you get off on the sixth floor and can then take a separate set of stairs or an elevator up a further level. The gym wasn’t huge, though the equipment was modern and it never seemed to be full.
Westin Madrid gym
Westin Madrid gym
It’s worth noting that the Westin Madrid has a great location, and was within walking distance of most of the places we visited in Madrid. We’ll have more on that in a future installment about our time in Madrid.
Furthermore, if you’re as much of a coffee addict as I am, it’s worth noting that there’s a Starbucks in the same building as the hotel. While I’ll be the first to admit that Starbucks is far from the best coffee in the world, it’s nice to have easy access to coffee 16 hours a day.
As far as the hotel’s staff goes, I was impressed by the service at this hotel, especially for a property as big as this. While it might not look like it, the hotel has almost 500 rooms, so it’s a huge property.
Bottom line
I had a fantastic stay at the Westin Madrid, and it exceeded my expectations. It was anything but a “cookie-cutter” Westin, as it combined the amenities you expect from a Westin with a unique property which has a 100+ year history. If anything, this felt more like a Luxury Collection property than a Westin.
Between the rooms, public facilities, and location, I’d return in a heartbeat.
This property can also be a great use of Starpoints, given that paid rates can get quite high here over the summer.
If you’ve stayed at the Westin Madrid, what was your experience like?
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