R S.
Yelp
I know Yelp isn't as big in Europe as Trip Advisor, but as an American Yelp-lover...I've got to pay it forward with reviews, regardless of geography!
I recently completed a 3 night stay at the AC Palacio Del Retiro. I paid using Marriott rewards points and was in a party of three people (I was traveling with my parents).
For context: I have learned that traveling as a party of 3 in Europe is quite different from the US. In the US, many hotel rooms are equipped with two double- or queen-sized beds to allow for occupancy by 3-4 people (as needed). In booking this and other Marriott hotels for this trip, though, I quickly learned that adding a third person tended to mean paying a fee for a roll-away bed - and the room configuration choices were either two twin beds or a single queen/king. I'll fully admit to being snobby about not wanting a roll-away bed, but to be fair I was cashing in hundreds of thousands of Marriott rewards points to pay for this trip. It does not feel luxurious or worth my money to sleep on a cot. And, moreover, I resent having to pay for the right to sleep on said roll-away bed in what is supposed to be a free hotel room. The alternative is to get two rooms, which in effect doubles the cost in Marriott points.
PROS:
- This hotel is just so chic! It's one of the prettiest and nicest hotels I've ever stayed at. My room had a king-sized bed, 20' ceilings, a huge ornate headboard that mirrored the large, arched shape of a mirror on the other wall. The bathroom was palatial with a walk-in shower (featuring rain-style shower head), enclosed toilet, dual vanities, and a soaking tub with a view practically out over Parque del Retiro. The bed was out-of-this-world comfortable. Whatever they do to wash those sheets...they're dreamy soft! And then the common areas of the hotel are equally well-designed and sleek. These merits alone take me to four stars.
- I'm not sure how secure this process really is, but I kind of loved that each room has an old fashioned actual KEY instead of key cards! And in the similarly old fashioned style, they encourage you to leave the key at the front desk when you go out. This was nice since we were all trying to stay alert for pick-pocketing hazards and not carrying our keys helped us feel less vulnerable.
- The location! It's in the arts/museum district on the east side of old downtown Madrid. All the surrounding streets are just so grandiose, beautiful, and clean. And - more than anything - being across the street from Parque del Retiro is just invaluable. We felt quite lucky to walk across to the park numerous times during our short stay. And with this...we're up to five stars.
- One of the doormen really came to our aid when we were trying to connect with a tour guide who was picking us up at our hotel, endlessly playing phone tag with the guide. He bent over backwards to make sure we knew where we were going and walked with us to connect with the tour guide when a street closure prevented the guide from reaching us at the hotel front door.
CONS:
- Unfortunately, given our three-traveler dilemma (see above) we felt our only option at this hotel was to book two separate rooms. I emailed to ask about alternatives (such as upgraded room or paying for the roll-away bed using Marriott points instead of cash) but they showed no willingness to negotiate. Obviously I prefer hotels that focus on customer service to the point of accommodation, but that wasn't going to happen here. Fundamentally this is the most important reason why I dropped down to four stars.
- On that note, they also refused to extend the privilege of free breakfast to all three of us. There was some "reduced rate" available for our third person, but the price was still absurdly high (I want to say 19E?). This didn't feel very nice or accommodating, and confirmed my four star rating.
- While my parents enjoyed the free breakfast, I made oatmeal to eat in my room. But they don't have water heaters (or coffee, tea packets) in rooms like most European hotels. I had to go down to the restaurant every morning to request hot water.
- This is very small and silly, but the front desk staff gave me an internet code that expired before the end of my stay (my parents got a code that lasted the whole stay, which is the intended benefit for Platinum Elite guests). It was just kind of a careless oversight and they fixed it, but even when they gave me a new code they gave me one that had been generated for another guest...which is also what they did when they gave me the first code which was not for the right duration. Instead of grabbing the nearest code, they could have spent a moment to get me one that was appropriate for the duration of my stay and I wouldn't have needed to get a new one later. It's the little things, you know?
