The Westin Palace Madrid is one of the most aspirational properties in the Marriott Bonvoy portfolio. It commands an exceptional location in a historic building that is filled with luxury features. We would get the opportunity to stay in a spacious suite at this property, in addition to enjoying a wonderful breakfast.

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This post is one chapter on our trip to Iceland, the United Kingdom and Morocco. This trip was redeemed through Alaska Mileage Plan and enhanced through Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.

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Review: The Westin Palace, Madrid, Spain

It sounds silly but after watching years of Starwood Preferred Guest TV and seeing the promotion for the Westin Palace Madrid and it’s breakfast, and reported excellent treatment of Platinum members at this property, the repeated messaging made this hotel onto the list as a place to visit and stay. Unfortunately, we were here for only a short stay thanks to train schedules.

Getting to the Westin Madrid:

After arriving off of Icelandair Saga Business Class Keflavik – Madrid, we rolled outside the airport with our baggage. We hopped a 30€ flat rate taxi to the city center. Madrid has now fixed the rate from the airport to the city as a flat rate. Despite this, there were lots of advertisements for Uber inside the airport.

The hotel is well located in central Madrid. It is reasonably close to the train station and, more importantly, has great tapas bars within a block of the hotel.

Arriving to the Westin Madrid:

The building is a hall mark of architecture in Madrid and we had previously photographed the area and the neighbourhood in on our last trip through in 2012.

Getting back to the trip at hand, after about 15 minutes in the taxi, we arrived out front of the Westin Palace Madrid. It is truly a striking building that was tastefully lit up at night.

Arriving and Checking In:

The bell assistance was prompt and immediately assisted with unloading of the bags from the taxi. As I was getting out of the taxi, the bell man happened to notice that my wallet had slipped from my pocket into the seat of the taxi as I was trying to pay the driver. The bellman pointed it out to me to make sure that I didn’t forget it. I thanked him for this and he replied simply “it’s my job”. It was thoroughly professional and a great first impression for the arrival.

“The Westin Madrid was a spectacular old world hotel that was inspiring to stay in. The Marriott Platinum Treatment was excellent and we even received a further upgrade on top of a Suite Night Award”

We headed inside and checked in at the front desk. I had applied a Suite Night Award to this reservation and it had cleared into a Deluxe Suite at the 5 day mark. On check in, we were able to get a further upgrade to an Executive Suite with a fountain view. At the counter, there was also an iPad showcasing up sell opportunities to suites. As with all the public spaces at the hotel, the lobby area was a grand place.

The Room: An Executive Suite

An Executive Suite – Fountain View

We were assigned room 624 and led ourselves up to the room, leaving our larger bags with the bell staff. The bell staff were able to bring the larger bags were up promptly. The hallways and elevator areas were nicely appointed as you’d expect for a world class historic hotel.

The room itself was very nicely decorated. Usually in historic hotel rooms, the rooms tend to show a lot of wear and tear thanks in part to their smaller size. Our suite was in impeccable condition, without scratches, wear or any scuff marks on the wall. There was a burnt out bedstand light but who’s complaining; only the guy taking review photos!! (Laughing).

The suite had a separate sitting area with television, bedroom and separate bathroom.

The room had daylight windows and a direct view of the fountain.

The bathroom was large and spacious for a European bathroom. It featured a separate shower and bathtub. Toiletries were the usual Westin White Tea Aloe.

I snapped a quick photo of the floor map for those that are interested to see the layout of the historic hotel.

Food and Beverage near the hotel:

We were a little peckish and hungry after the flight, so we immediately dropped the bags and headed out for some tapas. We walked one block from the hotel to La Dolores where we had previously been on our last trip to Madrid. It’s a light and bright tapas’ bar with large outdoor windows and drinking glasses from Germany on display behind the bar.

We were able to easily get a seat at the counter at 11:00 PM for several tasty glasses of Rioja & along with several scrumptious tapas of smoked salmon, Roquefort cheese over baguette, beautiful olives and pickles.

We crawled back to the hotel after a quick walk around the fountain out front at 12:30 AM. We jumped into the massive Westin bed for a great but short sleep.

Food and Beverage in the Hotel:

“The breakfast room featured a classic glass cupola that set the stage for a terrific breakfast buffet”

We woke up at 8 AM and headed downstairs for an optionally included SPG Platinum Breakfast benefit. The breakfast was one of the reasons for coming here, as it is offered under the large “historic glass cupola”. The brunch was normally chargeable at 38€ per person. It is set in a beautiful space with lots of natural light.

MrsWT73 commented that it was gorgeous for a breakfast, but that “I wouldn’t want to have dinner here”. She prefers contemporary spaces. It is indeed a beautiful old world breakfast room that was a great place to start the day.

The breakfast itself was tasty, offering a full egg station, prosecco and other delicies. It was indeed as good as reported and was among one of my better all time Platinum Breakfast offerings; perhaps second to the Westin Europa Venice where breakfast can be taken on the deck outside listening to gondoliers.

In Conclusion:

The Westin Palace Madrid is an absolutely beautiful property that has been wonderfully maintained and resorted. It would be really spectacular to experience a long stay here in an exceptional suite. Our stay was all to short. I would even come back for the Platinum Treatment which was excellent. In summary, a highly recommended property worthy of a visit.

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If you have stayed at the Westin Madrid, did you enjoy the property and all it’s historic features?

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