The Westin Palace Madrid

The Westin Palace has been around since 1912, and has for decades been one of the most elegant hotels in a city full of grand old hotels. Madrid is a courtly city, built up around a government that moved here as a gesture of Spanish unification; thus servicing the aristocracy was long the only game in town.

Of course not all of Madrid is so charmingly old-world — a host of sleek little boutiques has recently moved in, and though it's no Barcelona, the city is certainly a cosmopolitan one. The Westin Palace, though, is distinctly old-guard, and though it has been thoroughly restored by its new owners, it is still a vision straight from the Belle Epoque.

The original stained-glass dome is still in place above the reception, while guest rooms are high-tech beneath their old-fashioned dress — rooms feature spacious, efficient bathrooms and soundproof windows, equally suited to muffling the street noise and to keeping in the music from the obligatory Bang & Olufsen CD players.

Other features befitting a grand hotel in a world capital include data ports, business and conference services, two fine restaurants, and a chic hotel bar, a perfect gateway drug to Madrid's nightlife — which, again, is no Barcelona, but if you do enjoy a little sleep every now and then, that's not a bad thing. The location is absolutely central, just off the Prado, so you can get out there and live a little — and you can decide for yourself whether by “live” we mean “shop,” “drink,” or “tour the museum.”