We arrived early Monday morning from an overnight flight from Boston USA. Our room was ready for us. We were given a twin room on fifth floor overlooking inner courtyard. It was a very dark room, somewhat cavelike. On first impression, the room was small, dark and very hot and stuffy. We tried to lower the temperature of the room, however it was not able to be changed. We looked for the front desk number on the room phone, but no numbers used internally were available to us. So off we went in the very small lift to get some help in turning the air conditioning down in our room. Unfortunately the front desk were very unhelpful, quite rude in fact. A representative said that this hotel does not have airconditioning, only heating. Their website advertises airconditioning. A serviceman was sent to our room some five hours later. He brought a thermostat to check the temperature of the room. Nothing changed - our room was so so hot. We explained that I have panic attacks if I overheat. The staff then agreed to move us to another room. However when we asked to which room and when would this happen, nothing of course eventuated. We then emailed our travel agent to complain about this hotel. The wholesaler agent emailed the hotel with our grievances. Another service person came to check our thermostat but nothing actually changed in the room. We had hit a wall where the hotel could not care about us as guests. Another poor standard is that they do not change the bedlinen daily. Our sheets were not changed for three nights. I always mark the sheets, both top and bottom and pillowslip, as I know this is common practice in hotels. I am surprised that a 4 star rated hotel would cut corners in this way. A peculiar fishysmell came from the courtyard. As we had to have our windows open, this was a very offensive odour. The hotels website advertises Free wireless - however there was a charge of 6euros for one hour or 12 euros for 24 hours. When I queried this at the frontdesk, the representative said their website is a mistake. I cannot recommend this hotel to anyone.

close to metro and buses even though it is not in the heart of the action. The room was very nice (was upgraded to a suite!) but beware the noise coming from the Av Velazquez. The phonic isolation is not very good and you can really hear traffic. Breakfast was excellent and service very good. A good hotel.

While we waited (and waited) in the lobby to check in to this hotel, a purse and backpack were stolen from our belongings. Admittedly we had taken our eyes off of them, but we felt a false sense of security in the lobby with bellman around a sign that said they had video surveillance. The staff were uninpressed that two bags had been stolen from under their noses, and provided no support. As long as hotels like this shrug their shoulders at petty theft in their own lobby, it will go on at a steady pace.

We have stayed here several times before, but this time the man at reception was surly, Our room had two windows, both with views of blank walls and one had the bonus of views of trailing wires and lots of pipes too. We had asked for a double bed and were given twins. We were too tired to complain. The breakfast was excellent, but the staff lack charm! Next time we'll stay somewhere else.

We stayed in four different hotels during our recent trip to Spain and Gran Hotel Velazquez was our LEAST favorite. First the positives: our "junior suite" was fairly spacious and quiet. The location, North of Parc Retiro is good. Our windows, which looked out on a small central courtyard, could be opened to ventilate some of the odors and stuffiness in the room. Now the bad news: 1. The beds were lumpy and "thumpy" (-best term I could think of to describe the thumping sound the box spring made when you sat on it or moved around), 2. The heat/AC was non-functional and when I mentioned this to the hotel staff I was told that the only thing they could do was "turn down the temperature for the entire hotel"!?, 3. There was a slight but pervasive odor in the room of garbage combined with natural gas, 4. At 9:30 in the morning, the shower was cold, 5. The door between the two rooms of our suite was broken and could not be closed, 6. There is a steep charge for WiFi access that is not indicated on the hotel website. I would add that the hotel desk staff, while reasonably professional in most respects, seemed impatient at times and a bit aloof.