Review Hotel Ritz Madrid
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The Hotel Ritz Madrid is part of a group called 'Leading Hotels of the World'. It was once a Baroque Palace, and retains an extremely stately feel. To give you an idea of its standard, let me tell you some of the people who have stayed there, and commented on how impressed they were: Julio Iglesias, Jeremy Irons, Nicole Kidman, George Clooney, Kevin Costner, Pierce Brosnan and Bill Clinton. If it's good enough for them, I guess I could agree that I was rather impressed too!
As you approach the main entrance there are usually sleek cars rolling up to the door and extremely well dressed people being escorted in and out of the hotel by an even more impressively dressed and very polite doorman. I will comment though, that you do have to give the revolving door a bit of a shove to get it to move! Once inside, I was greeted by the sound of a classical pianist who plays in the lounge next to the lobby.
Hotel Facilities
The Hotel Ritz Madrid has a restaurant, car rental, laundry, hairdresser, sauna, health club, terrace garden, limousine, babysitting, parking and a medical service.
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| The Garden Restaurant In The Ritz |
The lobby bar specialises in an array of fine teas that in summer they will serve over crushed ice with mint or lemon. Teas are served between 16:30 - 19:30 and cost €30.00 plus VAT.
Goya restaurant open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It also serves a Sunday brunch. An example from the menu is: Cocido Madrileño (A traditional hearty beef stew from Madrid).
The stunning Terrace Gardens also serve lunch and dinner during the warmer months. There's what I can only describe as a very 'Afternoon Tea' feel about the terrace gardens - perhaps it's the wicker chairs?
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| The Ritz Is Set Back Behind A Wall Of Trees |
Velazquez bar serves a great variety of cocktails. It's very smart and the barman is immaculately dressed in a black suite and bow tie.
The gym is very well equipped and also has satellite TV and radio. You can also get a massage there and there are UVA sunbeds and facial treatments. The gym is open for guests for 24 hours. For treaments it is open on Tuesdays to Saturdays from 10:00 - 21:00 and closed on Sundays.
Business Facilities
The Hotel Ritz Madrid has 5 meeting rooms, the largest of which is the Salon Real. It is 296m2 and is a good space for holding fashion shows, wedding receptions, balls or product launches.
The Salon Alfonso XIII is very elegant and is good for holding banquets. It is 204m2.
The Salon Felipe IV has large arched windows and is a great place to hold a banquet. It can take up to 110 guests with a banquet layout, and 220 for a reception.
Salon Goya is usually used for working lunches, cocktail evenings and black tie dinners. It used to be a reading and games room and can accommodate 110 people.
Salon Real Academia is very English in style and holds up to 30 people.
The terrace gardens can also be used to hold events and they connect directly with Salon Alfonso XIII and Salon Goya.
The hotel offers hire of projectors, translation service, photocopying service, podiums, screens, hostesses, stenographer, sound system, notice boards, multi-lingual secretary and video conference equipment. They can also cater for working lunches, business meals, cocktail evening and coffee breaks.
There's also a Business Centre between the 2 biggest meeting rooms. Services available here include: bilingual secretarial service, telephones, fax, photocopying, computers and printers and internet access.
Facilities For The Disabled
There are several rooms that are specially equipped for disabled access, and have features including wide doors and adapted bathrooms.
Rooms
There is a choice of Classic Rooms, Deluxe Rooms, Junior Suites, Deluxe Suites, Presidential Suite or Royal Suite.
Each room has: en-suite bathroom, AC and CH, telephone, internet connection, voicemail, satellite TV, movies, radio and internal music channel, minibar, safe, and a hairdryer. A fax machine is available on request. Every room has its own unique design and incorporates hand-made carpets and embroidered bed sheets. This is combined with antique furniture and marble bathrooms.
The Classic Rooms come with either single, double or twin beds, and views to either the courtyard or exterior, to the tree-lined street.The Deluxe Rooms are with either double or twin beds and all have views to the exterior.
The Junior Suites have either king-sized beds or twin beds. They also feature a lounge area and they all have views over the lush garden. They come with a complimentary basket of fruit and chocolates.
Deluxe Suites also have a seating area and views over the garden and also to the Prado museum and the Plaza.
The Royal Suite has a large bedroom and a king-sized bed, a lounge and 2 bathrooms with separate entrances. If you want more space, you can combine the Royal Suite with the Deluxe Suite.
Hotel Location And Facilities
The Ritz is set back from the main road of the Paseo del Prado and sits discretely behind mature trees. The Prado museum is next door and the Thyssen-Bornemisza is across the road. The Reina-Sofia museum is 15 minutes walk.
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| There's A Small Park Opposite The Ritz |
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| The Road Past The Hotel Ritz Madrid |
If you want to head into the commercial centre of Madrid, you can walk to the Puerta del Sol in about 15 minutes. Here you will find an abundance of shops, bars and restaurants. The metro is 10 minutes walk away.
How To Get From The Airport To The Hotel
Via Taxi: A taxi from the airport should take about 20 minutes and cost about €22.00 (including airport supplement), depending on much traffic there is, and assuming there's no extra baggage (meaning that you can fit the bags inside the boot and interior of the taxi).
Via 
Metro: You can take various metro routes directly from the airport to arrive at Sevilla metro, near the Hotel Ritz Madrid. Line number 8 leaves from inside the airport between terminals 1 and 2. The quickest route is given below with the stations where you need to change listed:
Metro: Mar de Cristal (Pink Line, L8) Then change and head for Goya (Brown Line, L4). Then change for Sevilla (Red Line, L2).
Via Bus: You can take a red EMT public bus from the airport to Avenida America. The number bus that takes this route is the 115. From there it's faster to change to the metro.
Reservations
Reservation Information For The Hotel Ritz Madrid
In A Nutshell
The Hotel Ritz Madrid is the ultimate in exquisite and classical taste. It is one of the world's top hotels and regularly caters to the rich and famous. It has a multitude of facilities to serve tourists and business people. It is next door to Madrid's most famous museum, the Prado, and is only 10 minutes walk to the city centre.
Hotel Ritz Madrid - 5 Star
Plaza de Lealtad, 5
Metro: Sevilla (Red Line, L2) Plus 10 minutes walk.
