A 1910 Belle Époque hotel beside the Prado, with a glass dome that spent eighty years covered over.
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Overview
Nineteen Ten
A hundred and fifty-three rooms including fifty-three suites, next door to the Prado.
César Ritz built this in 1910 at the request of King Alfonso XIII, who had noticed that Madrid had nowhere fit to put visiting royalty. It stands on the Plaza de la Lealtad with the Prado on one side and the Thyssen on the other. A recent restoration returned all 153 rooms and 53 suites in a residential register by Gilles & Boissier — but the thing worth going to see is the Palm Court. Ritz’s original glass roof was built over around the middle of the last century and the room spent eighty years without daylight; the architects reopened it using his own drawings. The Royal Suite runs to 190 square metres with balconies over the Prado.
Two Michelin stars, one address. Quique Dacosta runs Deessa, the hotel’s signature room, and it holds two Michelin stars. Book it well before you travel.
1910
Year It Opened
153
Rooms
53
Suites
80
Years the Dome Was Hidden
Rooms
Gilles & Boissier
Residential-style rooms by the Parisian studio, the best of them over the Prado.
Royal Suite Balcony — Mandarin Oriental Ritz
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Residential RegisterRooms designed to read as apartments rather than hotel rooms, by Gilles & Boissier.
02
Prado BalconiesThe highest categories have private balconies over the museum and the Plaza de la Lealtad.
03
The 190m² Royal SuiteThe largest suite in the building, and the one with the best of the balconies.
04
Belle Époque ShellThe 1910 building was restored rather than rebuilt, down to the recovered glass dome.
Experiences
The Golden Triangle of Art
Three of the great European collections, all within a few hundred metres.
Museum
The Prado
Velázquez, Goya and Bosch, immediately next door to the hotel.
Museum
Reina Sofía
Picasso’s Guernica, ten minutes south on foot.
Museum
Thyssen-Bornemisza
The private collection that completes the triangle, across the street.
Park
El Retiro
The royal park behind the Prado, and its glass Palacio de Cristal.
Old Madrid
Plaza Mayor
The 17th-century arcaded square, twenty minutes west through the old streets.
Table
Mercado de San Miguel
The covered market, and the right introduction to Madrid’s eating habits.
Dining
Deessa, and the Palm Court
Two Michelin stars, and afternoon tea beneath a dome nobody saw for eighty years.
01Deessa by Quique Dacosta, holding two Michelin stars
02Palm Court, under the restored glass dome, and the setting for afternoon tea
03Champagne Bar and Pictura for lighter dining
04El Jardín, the garden terrace, through the warmer months
The Palm Court — Mandarin Oriental Ritz
Location
Plaza de la Lealtad
Between the Prado and the Thyssen, on the Paseo del Prado.
On the Plaza de la Lealtad, immediately beside the Prado Museum.
Inside the Golden Triangle of Art, with all three museums walkable.
A short walk to the Retiro park and twenty minutes to the Plaza Mayor.
Roughly 25 minutes from Madrid-Barajas Airport.
Fly
Arrive at Madrid-Barajas.
Drive
Roughly 25 minutes by private chauffeur to the Paseo del Prado.
Arrive
Check in, then tea under the glass dome before the Prado in the morning.
Madrid
The Dome They Found Again
César Ritz’s 1910 hotel, restored to his own drawings, next door to the Prado.