Reviews of Emperador Hotel, Madrid

The hotel lobby looks like a 4* hotel, unfortunately that’s where the story ends. Our room on the 4th floor overlooked drab grey bits of the building and only by craning our necks our of the window and vertically upwards could we see the colour of the sky.



Ah! but at least you were at the back of the Hotel so there was no noise from the Gran Via. Correct, unfortunately however we had an interconnecting door with the adjoining room. Interconnecting was an understatement, if we spoke Spanish we would undoubtedly have shared the secrets of several families next door, as well as their TV preferences. In our experience it is certainly true that the locals like to return home at 5.32 am. Breakfast (and we have enjoyed several outstanding Spanish breakfast experiences) was bland.



The Toaster would have provided case studies for a hoard of HSE inspectors (and probably excited some industrial archaeologists). Nevertheless, after six passes the bread did go a little brown, if we’d wanted the normal "toasty" colour it would have meant getting up 2 hours before the restaurant opened! ( I exaggerate here, but only here).



The bar bill for four drinks (nothing special) was 24 EUR. The safe didn’t work and I was reprimanded for not telling them earlier! Oh Bliss, who awards the stars? Do they go further than the lobby? The location is good but we expected so much more. Take your earplugs.

We stayed at the impressive Hotel Emperador (4 star) on the Gran Via in Madrid for a long weekend. The hotel is lovely and all rooms are air-conditioned, and believe me you need it if you visit in the summer months! It was over 30 degrees even at 11.00 pm! It has a roof-top swimming pool which as you may imagine gives absolutely stunning views of the city - we made good use of it!



There is such a lot to see in Madrid - where do you start? The beautiful Retiro Gardens with its lake, The Prado Museum - see work of Goya here, The Opera House and the Royal Palace is a must!



We stayed on a bed and breakfast basis and it was fab eating out in the magnificent Plaza Mayor each evening. There is fabulous entertainments doing the rounds of the cafes and restaurants - magicians, musicians, jugglers - the lighting in the evening sets a romantic mood too! Menus are diverse and the food good.



Be aware there are lots of beggars in Madrid centre (or so it seemed to us) and watch out for pickpockets (we nearly got stung but if you stay aware you should be ok) - that, I would say was the only downside.



Madrid is well worth a visit.