The Palace Hotel
Occupying an entire block directly opposite the Ritz, the Palace was also created at the suggestion of Alfonso XIII. When it opened in 1912 it was the first hotel in Madrid to feature in-room bathrooms and telephones. In 2025, the Palace completed a comprehensive makeover that revives its Belle Époque grandeur, elevating it to a Marriott Luxury Collection Hotel. While the façade and public areas ooze antique opulence, the rooms and suites feature soothing shades and state-of-the-art comforts. The hotel has also had its fair share of famous guests and scandalous goings-on, the more so because it never turned away celebrities as the Ritz once did. Hemingway, Orson Welles, and Picasso were all regulars. Behind glass in the bar, you can see a letter containing a poem by Lorca and a sketch by Dalí in which they seek to borrow money for their impecunious friend, the film director Luis Buñuel. Even if you don’t plan to stay here, aim for a coffee or a cocktail beneath the magnificently restored stained-glass cupola of La Rotonda.
Occupying an entire block directly opposite the Ritz, the Palace was also created at the suggestion of Alfonso XIII. When it opened in 1912 it was the first hotel in Madrid to feature in-room bathrooms and telephones. In 2025, the Palace completed a comprehensive makeover that revives its Belle Époque grandeur, elevating it to a Marriott Luxury Collection Hotel. While the façade and public areas ooze antique opulence, the rooms and suites feature soothing shades and state-of-the-art comforts. The hotel has also had its fair share of famous guests and scandalous goings-on, the more so because it never turned away celebrities as the Ritz once did. Hemingway, Orson Welles, and Picasso were all regulars. Behind glass in the bar, you can see a letter containing a poem by Lorca and a sketch by Dalí in which they seek to borrow money for their impecunious friend, the film director Luis Buñuel. Even if you don’t plan to stay here, aim for a coffee or a cocktail beneath the magnificently restored stained-glass cupola of La Rotonda.
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