The hotel really is overrated and overpriced. The room was ‘fine,’ nothing more, nothing less, I had a ‘premium’ room and certainly the prices were certainly ‘premium’ at $400.00 a night. Furniture, although dated was kept clean and dusted, the fixtures and fittings are certainly dated. The carpets were stained, and in the communal hallways the wallpaper was coming away from the wall. There are no welcoming flowers, fruit or anything in the room to welcome you as a new guest, there is no night turndown service, so be warned, if you have a shower or bath in the morning, do not expect any clean towels for you in the morning. There was no bath gels in the room, just cheap shampoo and conditioner and a bar of wrapped soap which was not replaced throughout our 5 day stay. The prices of everything were very inflated, do not even think of taking anything from the minibar! For example a Kit Kat was almost $12.00, a small bottle of water the same price. There is no wifi in the room, only in the hotel lobby and at a cost of $28.00 for the day. The television only had CNN and Euronews for English speaking channels, you have to pay $12 to listen to a CD which will be played through the speaker system of the rather antiquated television. We were there when there happened to be some ‘VIP’s’ staying, which meant that the public seating areas were sealed off and only to be used for the security staff.. The breakfast buffet was nothing out of the ordinairy, lots of cellophane wrapped individual portions of cheese and butter and yoghurts, if you are lucky you may find some greasy bacon, but you need to be early to get it. The bathrobes were grey and well worn, the bath amenities were of inferior standard. The ceiling in the toilet had an old cobweb with its dead owner still in it. The staff were friendly and helpful, but unfortunately the surroundings that they had to work in certainly had seen better days. Some days you get a newspaper left outside your room, some days you do not.

A friend and I just got back from a 3 night stay in the Westin Palace in Madrid. Unfortunately the last 2 days I came down with an intestinal infection. The concierge brought an English-speaking doctor to our room (after we had checked out already) and even got us a taxi while we went to the pharmacy. Their service was wonderful and I was very impressed.

We recently spent two nights at the Westin Palace. The Hotel delivered on what we expected. We wanted a comfortable hotel to catch up on our lost nights sleep after spending the night on a transatlantic flight. Positives: at check in we were offered a room upgrade through the Amex Platinum fine hotels program and we were put in the hotel's largest suite for the price of our deluxe room. This was no Junior suite but a full suite with separate living/dining room and extra half bath. The bedroom also had a separate dressing room outside of the bathroom. This was the most elegant room of our 2 week vacation but certainly not the most expensive. The bedroom was quiet and the a/c worked very well and we were able to catch up on our sleep. Included breakfast was a full breakfast buffet and good quality. The public areas of the hotel are very nice and well maintained. The location is great, especially if you are interested in seeing the major art museums which are only a short walk away. Negatives: the hotel staff was professional but always left me with an impersonal feeling that this was a big hotel chain. Of course this is a minor complaint since the staff gave us the great room upgrade on arrival. The gym is reasonably good and I got in a great work out one morning.

Perfectly located opposite the Prado Museum, and less than 5 minutes' walk from the Parque del Buen Retiro (Madrid's Botanic Gardens). Lobby not as dramatic and impressive as I would have expected for such a grand exterior, but I simply loved La Rotonda, where light meals/refreshments can be partaken under an enormous and spectacular stained glass dome. Breakfast spread typical 5 star hotel spread. I paid extra for an exterior facing room, with a view of the surrounding streets, but you have to cough up even more $$$ for a view of the fountain and roundabout in front of the hotel. My room was very comfortable and elegantly furnished, although the old-fashioned TV (i.e. no plasma or LCD) was surprising for a hotel of this standard and considering the prices charged. If you're lazy or unfit, request for a room near one of the 2 banks of elevators, as the corridors are LONG! Service overall was ok, not overly friendly. I appreciated the gym on the top floor, which offers great views of downtown Madrid, and for a hotel, it was decently equipped, although the dumbells were rather limited. I had booked and prepaid my accommodation via a third party website, yet the hotel still billed my credit card, and, 3 weeks after my stay, is still dragging its feet in refunding me, in spite of my providing all evidence showing that I had prepaid it. The 2 staff with whom I dealt (prior to checking out) about this issue seemed disinterested, and were very insistent that the hotel had "done nothing wrong", and that it was obviously the customer's mistake. No effort made to check with the website through which I had booked, they simply stared at their darn computers and told me that I was wrong. Hey, how about some customer service and goodwill here? Aside from the debacle above, I highly recommend this hotel, for its location and elegance, but service a bit iffy,