The Best Hotels and Resorts in Europe and the UK: The Gold List 2025

"One of the city's icons and a pioneer in luxury hospitality when it opened in 1886, the Gran Hotel Inglés was the first hotel in Madrid to have a restaurant and electric lighting, as well as telephones and toilets with running water on each of its floors, an extravagance for the time. Its 48 rooms and suites, designed with a nod to the Art Deco style, have bathtubs that were flown in from Canada and are custom-made for each room, as well as showers; the beds, meanwhile, come with 500-thread-count Egyptian cotton sheets and an extensive pillow menu. In addition to its signature cocktail and gastronomic offerings at Lobbyto, which serves Madrid cuisine with an avant-garde twist (don’t miss the cocido madrileño!), the hotel has a brunch show with live music, an English tea service, and swing and rock-and-roll nights for the more lively. Le Max Club, the hotel's spa, includes a high-tech gym, spa cabins set up in collaboration with French brand Sisley (its botanical treatment menu is a delight, I promise), and a jacuzzi. From $760. —Clara Laguna" - CNT Editors