The Principal Madrid Hotel — Hotel in Madrid

This hotel is a total disservice to this great city. We have stayed in Madrid a number of times and The Principal totally ruined our most recent stay. If you expect good service and want to leave in a refreshed, good mood, I would recommend you book elsewhere.

Our stay started off quite well with a friendly and helpful check-in. We stayed in the Gran Via Suite for a treat as we were meant to visit prior to Covid. We wanted to support the hotel by visiting when restrictions allowed us too so kept the booking. Staff messaged us on WhatsApp ready to help - it was an impressive start.

We had dinner on our first night at Atico - our problems started. Items we ordered - appetisers and desserts - never arrived and the service was quite unprofessional to say the least. Even more disappointingly, the food wasn’t particularly tasty. It clearly is a case of style over substance - too much time trying to make food look good for Instagram likes, with not enough focus on flavour. The wine list was very poor too. There are so many better places to eat in Madrid so I would definitely skip here.

The hotel made a massive error on our second and final night - months in advance, we had booked a table at the renowned El Paraguas restaurant. The staff at The Principal offered to change the time for us, to an hour later. When we arrived at the restaurant, despite the hotel reassuring us twice, they had not had any communication at all and couldn’t seat us as we’d effectively arrived an hour late for the original booking they had! We’d been looking forward to visiting this restaurant for months and The Principal completely destroyed it for us. It made it especially hard as I double checked with the staff on the day and have the dialogue on WhatsApp where they’ve confirmed to me twice.

We rang the hotel - I appreciate mistakes can happen so it’s down to how these mistake are handled - they didn’t offer any help getting us dinner at another restaurant. After walking with our little daughter late at night for an hour, we got back to the hotel and thought we’d order room service - which was another fail. Soup missing from our order and the most pathetic Spinach Cannelloni - I think they must’ve dropped it as there was barely any of it in a small butter dish (see photo). It was such a disappointing evening that we will never get back.

I spoke to the manger the following day and there was very little empathy for how they had ruined our stay and how they could’ve dealt with the situation better.

It was a bad mistake choosing The Principal Madrid and they ruined our stay and did nothing to rectify mistakes. I strongly recommend to avoid it - the city deserves...

For an elegant, luxurious stay in Madrid, The Principal Madrid Hotel is the place to go. With a 7th floor rooftop terrace, and a penthouse restaurant that serves up signature cocktails and contemporary avant-garde culinary masterpieces, the hotel plays up the building’s history while modernizing the space to accommodate travels seeking the ultimate indulgence.

The hotel is conveniently located near many of the city’s best attractions, and the view from the rooftop terrace may be one of the best I’ve seen overlooking Madrid. When I arrived, I was delightfully greeted and every staff member was courteous, friendly, and helpful. They were willing to help me find my way around town, and offered local suggestions. Though with such great service, views, and a great restaurant, I had no reason to go anywhere else.

I had the pleasure of staying in the Executive Room for one night, which was stunning. The monochromatic color scheme kept the room feeling modern and clean, while the contemporary art fascinated me. The room had all the charm and character of a classic boutique hotel, but with the all the amenities today’s modern traveler seeks.

The king-size bed was comfortable and very large for me, as I was traveling alone. The room was the perfect size, big enough to not feel cramped, but small enough to deliver an intimate, peaceful atmosphere. After spending the day in Madrid, the jets in the walk-in shower were a welcome relief. The hotel offers complimentary Gilchrist & Soames toiletries, which felt like I had my own personal spa right there in the room with me.

I enjoyed relaxing with a cup of tea and using the infusions set, and the complimentary wi-fi allowed me to stay connected and check my emails. The Principal Madrid is a magnificent hotel in a landmark building with the perfect location. I can’t wait to...

The only 2 good things about this hotel are the location and the décor, the service was an absolute disaster and I would not recommend to anyone who expects 5* standards.

We stayed some nights before in another bhotel in Madrid so we arrived around 10am to checkin. The room was not ready yet which is fine, we just wanted to drop the luggage. However the receptionist/concierge tried to be a savvy salesman and offered us to buy an upgrade to junior suite for only XX sum with 30%discount. We asked to see pictures to check if there is any difference but he couldn't offer that and proposed to go check out the room while it was being cleaned , however we didn't wanna spend an hour checking the room while being sold this upgrade since we just wanted to explore the city and have the room we booked originally. Unfortunately this coupled with an awkward pushy mentality is what defines this hotel. Additionally when coming back from dinner I was stopped agressively by the security guard what I was doing here, which is no way to treat guests let alone strangers. The turndown service consisted of the maid pushing some cards and cakes in our hands. The breakfast was horrible as was the service. While sitting for breakfast, the table next to us was cleaned agressively with leftovers and crumbs flying everywhere, including our plates. We were warned by the waitress that breakfast was not included in the rate which we knew and didn't need spelling out. In the end it was probably a warning as it was a bad experience and came in at 35 euro a person. Finally when leaving the hotel we were charged 20 euro for god knows what and asked twice if we needed a driver to the airport which even though they claimed was the same rate as a taxi was 10 euro...