Smartrental Collection Gran Via Capital — Hotel in Madrid

The attitude of the employees in the restaurant. We stayed at the hotel for 6 nights with half board reservation. We had dinner 5 nights. When we asked before the first dinner what was included in the half board, we were told that we could choose from a menu and were allowed 2 drinks per person. We ate our meals without any problems for the first two nights, but problems started to arise on the third night. First we were told that some of the desserts on the menu were out of stock. However, after a while, people at the next tables who were not hotel guests and were eating with their own money, were served desserts that were said to out of stock. This night, we had 2 drinks per person again. On the fourth day, while the waiter was taking our orders, she didn't even bother to write down our orders. As a result, as you can guess, we received the wrong dishes. We had to send back the food we did not order and order the food again. Moreover same night, we were told again that there was only one type of dessert left for dinner and our drink allowance was one. We were charged money for the drinks we drank. We objected and canceled the requested money. Also, when we asked for ketchup and black pepper, they said they were out of stock, but they brought ketchup to other tables. If you believe it, there is no ketchup left in the restaurant of the huge hotel that has 4 stars! The desserts, which were said to be left over, were served to other tables. The last evening was even worse. Again, there was no ketchup and black pepper, if you believe it. When we asked the waiter, we were told that we were allowed two drinks per person including coffee. When we asked the waiter which desserts were available, we were told that we could order all dessertsat the menu. We ordered accordingly. After we ordered, the waiter came back and said that some desserts were out of stock again. When we finished our meal, another waiter asked us for the money for the cola and coffee we drank (€9). We objected and did not sign the bill. The waiter who asked for the money said he would cancel it and left. However, he did not cancel it, because the next morning, when we were leaving the hotel, the money that was said to be canceled was requested again (9€). We objected, explained the situation and refused to pay. The employee at the reception accepted the situation, took our room cards and we left the hotel. 2-3 hours after we left the hotel, the hotel sent me a message and said that they charged 9€ from my credit card without my permission and knowledge, like a thief. 9€ is not a very important amount of money. We paid 1600€ to stay in this hotel. One day we did not have dinner at all. On the other days when we had dinner, although we were 4 people, we ate for 3 people. I did not have breakfast on most days. However, the huge hotel went after the ridiculous amount of €9 like a thief and a poor man. My advice is to carefully watch out your rights while eating and do not give your credit card information to the hotel. Even if you have somehow given your credit card, be sure to block your credit card before leaving the hotel, otherwise they may charge you money as they wish...

We stayed here for three nights (Wed-Sat) in February 2025 and booked a one-bedroom 'superior' apartment as it seemed to offer more space (and a double sofa-bed) for our 15 year-old son. (The two bedroom ones were fully booked.)||Location is great, very central. Plenty of restaurants, grocery stores etc. Taxi from airport was about 20 minutes and no issues with driver overcharging or not sticking to the €33 'airport rate'. Same for the return journey.||From memory we had room 408, sort of on the side; with the window overlooking a dreary courtyard. The plus-side was that the room was really quiet. The down-side was that it was a bit dark and lacking in space. ||The website photos certainly stretch the idea of them being spacious. The bedroom in ours was 'cramped' at best. You could barely get round one side of the bed, and not really space to put a suitcase down. The bathroom was tiny; a shower, a sink (no real storage shelf space) and a toilet in a straight run. Think 'University Halls of Residence' size.||The room was a bit tired and not overly clean; dust on units, marks/stains on walls in places. In the bathroom the shower grout and drain weren't great, the towel hangers were loose on the wall. One TV remote control didn't work, the other had the battery cover missing, just little things that had been overlooked. Base-bed sheets didn't fit the bed or be big enough to 'tuck-in'. The kitchen unit part was fine. ||Bit disappointing on arrival - late-ish at night, that the sofabed hadn't been made up (when they knew the occupancy of the room). Got told we could do it ourselves if we wanted (linen would be in the room) or wait for housekeeping. Housekeeping eventually came, but then we had to go back to Reception to request some pillows. Just a bit of a faff.||Best bit was the breakfast. Wasn't expecting much for the price, but what a mixed feast and the staff working there really friendly.||Went up to the pool bit and 7th floor bar that, from the description, I expected almost to be a lively part of the Madrid nightlife scene. Appreciate it was February, but the bar (tiny) wasn't open the nights we went up and no real evidence of the pool being filled or used.||Oh yes, one last thing. The bathroom in ours was the 'far-side' of lounge area, so if the bedroom occupants want to go to the bathroom in the night, you've got to tip-toe passed the sleeping sofa-bed occupant in the lounge, and then back again. You couldn't do it differently with the layout of the hotel, but normally you'd often have the bathroom effectively between the two, (maybe off a central 'lobby' entrance bit) so that it can be accessed independently by both.||Overall, I tend to judge places by how the 'reality' compares with the 'expectation' (the website, the descriptions and imagery, the previous reviews, what I'd expect of that standard of hotel etc.) So, if I was being really harsh, it was a bit of a let-down and my wife and son agreed. But seems unfair to give it a 2-star, so will stick with an 'average'. I'd have no qualms about staying again, but would probably look for...

We had the most amazing weekend at this accommodation! From start to finished we have no complaints. Communication from the hotel prior to our arrival was excellent. I had requested if there was "something nice" they could do in the apartment for my son as it was his 7th birthday the day we arrived. After a 6am flight we were delighted our room was ready to allow a free of charge early check in. The reception staff were very friendly and spoke great English and thus was a quick and easy process to check in. Our bags were taken to our room in the staff lift and the concierge met us at our room on the first floor where they had set up balloons, a small cake, juice and a hand written birthday message (on a card and on the mirror in our bedroom) for my son, who was delighted with his brownie at 11am! The concierge even lit him a wee candle! Such a lovely gesture. Our apartment was fabulous; great size, lovely comfortable bed and we had our own little step out into a small courtyard area where we sat out at night. There was a bottle of water and 2 cans of red bull provided in the fridge and plenty of kitchen amenities if you needed to cook. We used the pool for the majority of the day on the Sunday which was great, perfect depth for my little boy who could stand and this helped greatly with his swimming confidence. The pool bar opened at 1pm so we enjoyed a few cold beers and ordered some tapas which was served to us by the pool. There was a hen party and a few other smaller groups of people that afternoon so there was a great vibe. The Monday was completely different, only a few people, very quite & relaxing. Be prepared for the water temperature, it's like a bath! This is not a complaint at all but I personally missed not being able to take a cold "dook" in the peak afternoon sun. Instead I had a cold shower which was available by the pool. There were also toilets and a full shower/room next to the pool which we used to get ready on the Monday as we had already checked out (we did get 1hour longer check out free of charge as that's all that was available). The hotel booked us a taxi to airport and called us on my mobile when it arrived and the concierge had all out bags ready and helped us into the car. All in all we had a fabulous stay; great staff, accommodation, location, service and amenities. We will definitely recommend and hope to return ourselves one day. Thank again for adding to my son's birthday...