The Palace Madrid review: A grande dame reborn for the modern traveller

There are hotels with history, and then there’s The Palace.

First opened in 1912 and commissioned by King Alfonso XIII, this grande dame of a property has seen everything from wartime operations taking place under its famous glass dome to Picasso checking in at its wooden-clad reception.

Recently added to the Marriott’s Luxury Collection, the hotel has emerged from a two-year restoration as a redefined address in the heart of the Spanish capital. The National checked in to see how a hotel this steeped in the past could hold up in modern-day Madrid.

History

The hotel's grand entrance. Photo: The Palace Madrid

The Palace Madrid has long stood at the crossroads of art, royalty and revolution. Built on the site of the former Palace of the Dukes of Medinaceli, it was one of Spain’s first luxury hotels and one of the most modern in Europe when it opened in 1912, offering private bathrooms and in-room telephones long before such amenities were standard. Its guestbook is impressive, having welcomed everyone from Marie Curie to Hemingway and Salvador Dali.

During wartime, the hotel served as a make-shift hospital, with its glass-domed lobby, which is now La Cupula bar and restaurant, providing one of the few reliable sources of light in the city, making it vital for surgical operations.

Now relaunched as part of Marriott’s The Luxury Collection, the hotel has been meticulously restored, with a clear reverence for its past. Key architectural elements including its floral exterior stonework, original marble floors and that storied dome made of 1,875 glass panels, have all been carefully revived. Corridors are lined with surrealist-inspired artwork and wool carpets patterned with mythical creatures, while public spaces nod to the past through oversized 16th-century Flemish tapestries and optical-illusion paintings that shift as you move past them.

The welcome

The Palace's reception. Photo: The Palace Madrid

Service here is sharp and unfussy, delivered with the confidence that comes from a team that clearly knows its legacy.