After its three-year renovation, the centenary Ritz has been bathed in light and art by Spanish architect Rafael de la Hoz and French interior designers Gilles et Boisser. Fortunately, the luxury hotel is still just as grand as it was at the time of its opening in 1910. The cuisine oscillates between Ritz classics and more contemporary fare, which can be found at Deesa, an intimate restaurant overlooking the hotel garden— where the Valencian paella is best enjoyed.

The first luxury hotel to open in Madrid in the last half-century, the Four Seasons is made up of seven 19th-century buildings in the historic city center. The hotel’s lobby retains the glorious richness of what was formerly the headquarters of the Banco Español de Crédito: stained-glass windows, original Ionic columns, green marble counters, and even an old vault.

In the middle of the bustling Paseo de la Castellana, a leafy avenue lined with grand palaces, the Hotel Villa Magna, inaugurated in 1972, was once the king of Madrid's luxury accomodations. Today, the marble-lined property has been transformed by the ultra-luxury Rosewood group, offering a cozy, private residence atmosphere with elegant yet unstuffy interiors.

It was the first luxury hotel in Madrid in 1886, and its jewel of the 1920s, with guests like Matisse and tango composer Carlos Gardel. The original chandeliers still remain and a library with more than 600 titles recalls its past as a place for literary gatherings. The hotel design recreates its past with custom-made furniture, freestanding marble bathtubs, and closets lined with old postcards from some of the hotel’s most legendary guests.

With nine floors house in what was once the tallest building in Spain, this hotel boasts some of the best views of the Gran Vía. In the hands of designer Jaime Hayon, the interiors are imaginative and surreal, playing with Spanish clichés (bullfighters, flamenco dancers) and elements of children’s folklore, set against a sweet pastel palette of pistachio, cobalt, and pale pink.

One of Madrid's best-kept secrets, Hotel Orfila is located on a discreet street in the Almagro neighborhood. This classic gem, which is housed in an 1885-built family residence and has been welcoming guests since the 1990s, has taken advantage of its pandemic-era closure to get a decorative facelift awash with rprinted fabrics, damasks and velvets, and fine woods. Equally impressive is its restaurant, El Jardín de Orfila.

What was once the classic Gran Hotel Velázquez, the Bless Hotel, which opened in 2019, now feels like a direct outgrowth of the Salamanca neighborhood, home to the city's most expensive noble houses and luxury boutiques. The lobby and the restaurants are a fusion of midcentury Madrid style and whimsical, avant-garde design: carpets upholstered with flowers, ceilings with oversized rosettes and cornices, and large rhinoceros sculpture in the restaurant. There’s no shortage of fun here.

The colossal helical staircase, as if falling from the sky, lends a certain neo-Romanesque mysticism to the entrance of this new Edition. It was part of a brilliant transformation by architect John Pawson, who decorated the lobby with bouclé armchairs and marble tables in a range of whites, creams, and warm woods. At night, the Punch Room offers a restorative punch that's become the hotel's signature drink.

In recent years, Gran Via has regained its place as the cultural corridor with theaters, cinemas, and music. On its western corner, Dear Hotel Madrid occupies a 1945 neoclassical building overlooking the Plaza de España and the green lung of the Casa de Campo. Its rooftop restaurant Nice To Meet Uou is designed as an urban garden with plants in large terracotta pots, and offers a menu of casual dishes and cocktails. From there, guests can enjoy sunsets over Madrid's historic skyline.

Sitting in the midst of one of Madrids busiest districts, the Gran Vía, The Hotel Prinicpal Madrid is missable if you arent paying close attention. From the street you are greeted by a lone doorman who whisks you up to the Principals rooftop reception where views of the city and its Plazas await.