Daniel J.
Google
My review is not necessarily about the rooms and facilities which are more than okay (except for the elevators), but about the check-in experience and the way I was treated during check-in.
For anyone who has time to read, you will be amazed by what follows.
I arrived at the hotel around noon, presented my ID card at reception, and after a few seconds (maximum 10 seconds), I was told that my room was not ready and that I would have to wait. I left my luggage in the luggage room, went to the bathroom, and while I was in there, someone started banging loudly on the door and shouting in Spanish, "out, out." When I came out, there was no one at the door, so I went towards reception, where I was intercepted by five armed police officers who basically grabbed me and took me to a corner near the reception.
Without any explanation, they asked for my ID, phone, and backpack and started searching through my things. They took everything out of my backpack and left with my ID and phone without any explanation, all the while they constantly shouting "don't move, don't move," even though I wasn't moving because I had nowhere to go (I was in a corner surrounded by five police officers). At the same time, no one from the hotel staff seemed interested in finding out what was happening. My suspicion is that the police were called by the reception as they came quite fast after presenting my ID. The police started putting pressure on me and asked for more than10 times, "When did you first check into the hotel and when did you first come to Madrid?" And all of this was in Spanish. No one spoke English; two men apparently from the hotel staff (dressed in suits) came, I asked what was happening, but they completely ignored me. I signaled to the reception staff, asking for someone who spoke English to help me, but I was completely ignored again. This whole ordeal continued for more than 30 minutes, during which the police kept telling me not to move, and the hotel staff just told me to stay "tranquillo."
And all of this also in front of colleagues and clients (as I was attending a global conference).
I managed to understand from the police officers’ conversations that there was a video of a person who looked like me and who had committed a crime in Spain. I tried to call colleagues who were already checked into the hotel, but I was not allowed to. The pressure continued for me to "admit" that I had checked in a week earlier, even though I hadn’t even received my room yet. I managed to show them all my documents—plane ticket, Uber receipt from the airport, documents showing the reason I was in Madrid—which somewhat convinced them that I was not the person they were looking for. When they realized their mistake, they simply left without even apologizing.
I tried to find out from the reception staff what had happened and why, and I only received a simple "no worries, standard procedure." Instead, they upgraded my room. I felt very stressed during my entire stay, because anyone could have had access to my room (police, staff) and I did not feel safe at all. The hotel handled this situation very poorly and unprofessionally. They offered no support, even though none of the police officers spoke English. I am totally disappointed by this experience and I will for sure never visit this hotel again.