Stayed for 4 nights on 2 different occasion on my honeymoon. I was able to find an Internet special rate on the Westin reservation site which made the stay more reasonable. I also stayed 1 year ago in the Westin in Rome, Italy which is also a very nice hotel. I would say the 2 hotels are similar in that both are old, have a European classic 5 star atmosphere and ambiance. However, if you ever stayed at a 5 star hotel in Asia, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and China, do not expect the same level of service, friendliness (some staffs were great and very nice but in general, some could have been more helpful or friendly) or to have similar or half as much amenities for the same price at European 5 star hotels. Since this was my Honeymoon, I requested a room with a view. I was surprised that the hotel actually tried to accomodate and provided us a room on the special SPG floor with a fountain view - very nice touch from Westin. The only downsite with this floor is that late at night, you can still hear some bass sounds from the disco on the ground floor (the SPG floor is on the 3rd floor and varies depending on your location). I am suprised that no one complained.

The room is elegantly decorated although I had to kill 2 flies zipping around the room. Also, many basic amenities are not provided unless I call and ask for it (razors, cotton buds, tooth brush etc). The bath room is small and the "heavenly shower" was not as exciting as I expected (2 shower heads that lack directional control or water pressure). Let's just say I had better "heavenly showers" at other 5 stars. The room service can be inconsistent as our bed was turned 2 out of 3 nights. During the second stay, our beds were not turned at all although we were out late at night. I also didn't care for paying 17 euro for internet connection.

My review may sound negative but it really is not. Overall I think the hotel is very good when thinking in the context of an old classic European 5 star. We enjoyed our stay but may want to try a different 5 star hotel for comparison.

We recently returned from a 3-night stay at the Westin Palace during our honeymoon May 27-30, 2005. Curb appeal of this historic hotel is fantastic, especially when you see it from the Plaza de las Cortes. The location is fabulous, a few minutes from the Prado and Thyssen museums. We walked everywhere from the hotel, but there is a metro station practically right outside the door. The Madrid Vision tour buses have a stop right across the Plaza, so we literally saw the city and only had to walk across the street to do it.

Our room didn't have a great view, but we loved the room nonetheless. The bed was SO comfortable, since it's a Heavenly Bed. There was a lot of closet space as well as an in-room safe. However, I was surprised to see that the shower was not separate from the bathtub and that the shower curtain was pretty flimsy and blew in on me when I took a shower. The toilet and bidee were in a separate "room" off the bathroom, but only behind a frosted glass door, so not very private if someone is getting ready at the bathroom counter. Also, the temperature was very hard to regulate. It was VERY warm in our room and didn't really cool to a comfortable temperature at night to sleep because it was so warm outside. The corridors were also VERY hot to walk down, with seemingly no ventilation.

There is no ironing board and iron in the room and you have to call Service Express to have them bring you one. When we called, all of them were in use, so we had to steam our clothes in the shower to try to get out the wrinkles before going out for the evening. They finally brought one to us right before we walked out the door.

We didn't dine in any of the hotel restaurants, so can't review those. We grabbed a light breakfast and coffee from the Starbucks that is located on the Plaza de las Cortes and walked to a cafe or restaurant for tapas and dinner every night.

The Conceirge was very helpful with giving directions to different places that we inquired about.

Overall, I definitely recommend this hotel to others to stay at while in Madrid.

This was our second stay in this hotel and yet again we had another excellent stay. Quick and efficient check in, friendly and helpful staff, spacious and faultless room with great bed and view, good buffet breakfast and all for 180 Euro a night (endless weekend rate). Highly recommended.

We stayed in Madrid over the weekend and enjoyed the city. The location of the hotel is perfect. We got a nice room overlooking the main street. The rooms are very spacious and the atmosphere of the hotel is lovely. We loved the wonderful lobby and the romantic bar. The hotel itself is very big. The only problem we dicovered is, that there are only 2 - 3 staff at the reception and you will have to wait to check-in or check-out.