60 Best Hotels in Madrid, Spain

Inspired by Paul Eluard's La Liberté, whose verses are written across the facade, the owners of this hotel granted an unlimited budget to 19 of the world's top architects and designers. The result is 12 hotels in one, with floors by the late Zaha Hadid, Norman Foster, Jean Nouvel, David Chipperfield, and others. Most popular are the futuristic all-white layouts by Hadid, the elegant black wood and white leather proposal by Foster, and the imaginative re-creation of space by Ron Arad. There's also a well-regarded restaurant and two bars (one on the rooftop), which are all just as impressive in design. The only snag: you'll need a taxi or the metro to get to the city center.

Steps from the trendy Malasaña and gay-friendly Chueca districts and slightly off the tourist track, Hotel Sardinero is a good mid-range value hotel in a turn-of-the-century palace. Rooms are handsome and minimal with dark wood floors, white linens, and vaulted ceilings. The free (nonalcoholic) minibar is a welcome perk.

A five-minute walk from Puerta del Sol and Parque del Buen Retiro (El Retiro Park), Hotel Urban blends buttoned-up business aesthetics with tropical accents in the form of Papua New Guinean artifacts and other rare museum-grade works. Public areas are distinguished by alabaster pillars, tile-and-gold-inlaid walls, and Art Deco banisters. The newly renovated rooftop pool (summer only) and cocktail lounge are decorated with palms and banana trees and make for chic sunbathing and photos. Rooms are decidedly more dated and less polished than public spaces, with green-marble bathrooms, dark-wood floors, and wispy charcoal curtains. Note to sybarites: don't miss the hotel's Michelin-starred CEBO restaurant serving exquisite regional Spanish cuisine.

The legendary Hesperia hotel was bought and renovated by Hyatt Regency and is all about comfortable business stays. It's in the city's financial district, miles from the tourist hubbub and within walking distance of Bernabéu Stadium and the National Museum of Natural Sciences. What the hotel lacks in inspirational design, it makes up for with valet parking, a "sky gym" on the top floor, and multiple meeting spaces.

A modern, clubby hotel on the stately avenue of Gran Vía, Iberostar Las Letras is a welcoming oasis from the area’s constant hubbub of tourists and shoppers. Many of the rooms have street-facing balconies. You'll find uncommon luxuries like a rooftop bar, 24-hour state-of-the-art gym, and some rooms with outdoor Jacuzzis. The bottom floor houses a high-ceilinged bar called Gran Clavel, where you can order tapas and flights of small-batch vermouths.

This airy, playfully decorated hotel with larger-than-average rooms occupies a converted palace on Calle de Serrano, Salamanca's main shopping corridor. Tarruella Trenchs Studio is behind the 2018 renovation, which blends marbles, woods, and colorful dividers in the lobby and more sedate velvets, leathers, and white linens in guest rooms.

Whites, grays, and dark woods define this boutique hotel on Salamanca's most opulent street, Jorge Juan. The gentlemanly, austere British-esque design is a welcome reprieve from the ersatz Art Deco aesthetic that invaded the city's restaurants and hotels in the 2010s. A quiet and comfortable lobby and excellent breakfast add to the appeal.

In an unbeatable location across from Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales, this hotel—once the U.S. embassy and later a luxurious residential building crowded with noblemen—has the architectural bones of a turn-of-the-century mansion with its hand-carved ceilings, marble foyers, and intricate iron balconies. While the modern streamlined rooms are not exactly design-magazine material, they meet all your practical needs with good mattresses and plenty of storage space.

Chauffeur-driven town cars snake around the block day and night at the Intercontinental Madrid, a classically decorated hotel frequented by dignitaries, diplomats, and other international bigwigs. Situated on the skyscraper-lined Castellana mall and removed from the tourist hubbub (you’ll need to take the metro to most attractions), the property is a dependable option for business travelers, families, and other visitors who favor comfort and service over centrality and trendiness. A fine-dining restaurant, sunny terrace, and an above-and-beyond concierge service round out the offerings.

This reliable hotel situated between Gran Vía and Puerta del Sol was renovated in 2021 and has comfortable, Scandi-minimalist rooms awash with whites and grays as well as spacious bathrooms with marble walls. Some areas, like the grand old lobby, retain their original opulence. 

Minimalism at just the right value is the key at this former textile wholesaler's premises, now a 22-room boutique hotel a few blocks off Plaza Mayor and Plaza de Santa Ana. Serene (if slightly clinical) white rooms come in three sizes—standard, superior, and triple—and are decorated with colorful headboards, charcoal valances, and small open closets. Upgraded rooms add exterior-facing wrought-iron balconies.

The building housing the NH Collection Madrid Suecia was once home to Ernest Hemingway and Che Guevara; today’s guests are decidedly tamer, but the retro aesthetic lives on in the hotel’s brown velvet couches, towering tropical plants, and suave concierges. Renovated rooms feel fresh and sumptuous with evocative wall art and neutral tones. 

In a turn-of-the-20th-century palace overlooking Plaza de Neptuno, this hotel preserves the building’s erstwhile grandeur with wooden headboards, gold-framed mirrors, tufted sofas, and wing chairs. Despite recent renovations, which added floral wall decorations and area rugs, the decor still feels dated; the rooftop gym, however, with its state-of-the-art equipment and natural light, is not.

One of the better values in Madrid hotels at the moment, this modern property off the Castellana thoroughfare offers bright, streamlined rooms with starched white linens and understated furniture. White-tiled bathrooms have overhead showers and plush towels.

Situated between Malasaña and the restaurant-lined Plaza de Olavide, this One Shot outpost has an ideal location for those looking to stay in a true-blue Madrid neighborhood with few tourists around. Colorful headboards and chairs pop in rooms that are otherwise minimally decorated (think white linens and walls), and bathrooms have towel warmers and wide shower heads.  

A trendy, youthful hotel, Only YOU Atocha has a big and buzzy lobby, a rooftop restaurant, spacious gym, and industrial-chic accommodations. Rooms with smart TVs, cushy armchairs, exposed brick walls, and vanity mirrors are by Contemporain Studio, the Catalan design firm behind Barcelona hot spots Boca Grande and Soho House.

In this luxurious urban oasis with an expansive courtyard tucked behind Gran Vía, reproductions of famous Diego Velázquez paintings feature in every room. Don’t let the Elizabethan facade and Golden Age paintings fool you: Palacio de los Duques is a state-of-the-art property complete with Nespresso machines, Bluetooth speakers, and bedside thermostats rounding out the digs.

Hitting the sweet spot between high-end luxury and state-of-the-art design, the Pavilions is a boutique hotel that stands out for its original art and sculpture by top Spanish artists, much of it available for purchase. Guest rooms feature plush velvet chairs and curtains, custom-patterned upholstery, and museum-quality abstract paintings above the beds. A top-floor gym and plant-filled breakfast area with a retractable roof round out the offerings.

Opened in 2020, Pestana is the newest outpost from the Portuguese boutique hotel chain and the only situated directly on the Plaza Mayor. It has a pool, spa, fitness center, architectural elements from the original 17th-century Casa de la Carnicería, and—crucially—double-paned glass to keep out ambient noise. Leisurely breakfasts in the ground-floor solarium are a highlight.

More like a modern village inn than a metropolitan hotel, this refurbished late-19th-century property was built atop the remains of a stone wall that encircled the city in the 12th century, which you can see through glass floor panels at the hotel entrance and in the casual restaurant. Rooms have white-tiled floors, headboards with historical prints of the city, and high ceilings with exposed wood beams. Enjoy a breakfast buffet in the restaurant, or opt for a more basic breakfast at the hotel bar-café. The owners have a similarly priced hotel next door called Posada del Dragón.

Dozens of hotels flank Gran Vía, Madrid’s main artery, but the five-star Principal rises above the fray—and not just on account of its swanky rooftop cocktail bar (a quiet alternative to the mobbed Círculo de Bellas Artes across the way). Accommodations feature soothing gray tones and minimal furnishings, design touches that make the compact rooms feel slightly more commodious than they actually are.

Surprisingly boutique-y for a Radisson, this hotel has a streamlined urban feel that suits its middle-of-it-all location. Cross the street and you’re gazing at Goyas at the Prado. Walk three blocks and you’re catching rays in El Retiro Park. Of course, such central real estate comes with its usual trade-offs—in this case, occasional street noise, compact rooms, and a tiny lobby—but perks like in-room espresso makers, pool and spa access, and lavish breakfasts outweigh the property’s faults.

Room Mate Alicia's all-white lobby with curving walls, backlit ceiling panels, and gilded columns oozes early 2000s, but its prime location and competitive rates help make up for the passé aesthetics. Carpeted rooms are modern if compact; the black-slate bathrooms, most of them shower-only, are separated only by a glass door. For a few more euros, upgrade to an executive room with a terrace or to a mini-suite with large windows overlooking the action on the plaza.

Macarena's decor is colorful, textural, and geometric with bold wall tones, patterned tile floors, and undulating ceiling panels in public spaces; guest rooms, on the other hand, vary widely in design and hinge on monochrome color schemes (e.g., royal blue, flamingo pink, emerald green) that make a statement. The crown jewel is the rooftop terrace complete with a cocktail bar, sundeck, and swimming pool.

In the city center, steps from the Palacio Real and Teatro Real, Mario is small with limited services but provides a welcome alternative to Madrid's traditional hotel options at a good price. It has a bold quirky style: original silk-print headboards highlight the white, gray, and black color scheme.

This fin-de-siècle palace, first a duke's residence and later the Canadian embassy, is now an intimate luxury hotel (managed by Marriott), an oasis of calm removed from the city center. Hand-painted frescoes crown stately halls, balconies jut out over a tranquil garden lined with hundred-year-old chestnut trees, and marble stairways spiral between floors. Rooms feel palatial with marble fireplaces, parquet floors, and contemporary floral wallpaper; some retain original crown moldings and double-height ceilings. Despite the old-world aesthetic, modern amenities abound including a gym area complete with a sauna and steam room, 24-hour room service, and indoor and outdoor restaurants serving Spanish and international cuisine, respectively.

Popular with Americans, this basic yet comfortable apart-hotel is situated steps from the Prado, the Thyssen-Bornemisza, and Plaza de Santa Ana. It has attractive attic studios on the fourth floor (with sloped wood-beam ceilings) and larger suites downstairs; all apartments are brightly decorated and have marble bathrooms and basic kitchens. It also serves breakfast at no charge, which can be ordered as room service. Triples and quadruples are a great deal.

Tótem checks all the boxes for a solid boutique hotel: genial service, streamlined design, sought-after location, and good food and cocktails. Rooms are minimally yet comfortably furnished with blond woods, bright white linens, and the occasional splash of color, while bathrooms feel loungier with black Marquina marble fixtures. Natural light pours into the Deluxe Exterior and Attic rooms, making them well worth the extra expense over their interior counterparts.

A metropolitan outpost of the Blue Sea resort chain, URBANSEA Atocha 113 is a basic 36-room hotel just north of the eponymous railway station. Interiors are compact and cozy, and there’s a rooftop terrace with gorgeous views—a rarity at this price point. With all the minimalist, all-white decor, it’s easy to forget you’re in a charming turn-of-the-century building—though the hotel’s timeworn spiral staircase is a pleasant reminder.

In a neoclassical building so stunning it was featured in Almodóvar's 2021 film Parallel Mothers, URSO boasts old-world comfort and avant-garde design to satisfy alternative types and jet-setters alike. It is within walking distance of the city’s top attractions yet removed enough to lend it an air of exclusivity. Upgraded rooms feel like a sanctuary, with high ceilings, minimal wall art, taupe blackout curtains, and impeccable soundproofing. Deluxe and superior rooms come with complimentary passes to the Prado.