Tag Archives: Europe

The Westin Palace – Madrid, Spain

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The Westin Palace offered a Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) “Cash & Points” rate during our weekend in Madrid.  SPG’s “Cash & Points”, which allows a combination of points and currency to be used to pay for a stay, often provides the best redemption rates on rewards.  They aren’t frequently offered, especially in Europe.  The availability of a low cost option for us to stay in Madrid at a luxurious hotel actually led us to extend our planned stay in Madrid by one night, and ultimately led to our selection of the Westin Palace.  In fact, we did not perform any of our usual hotel research for Madrid.  The Westin Palace clearly shined as a reputable hotel with a prime location adjacent to the Prado Museum.

Price. The cash rate offered during our stay was €245.  Accordingly, in our particular situation, the $90 + 4800 points “Cash & Points” option was nearly a 5% reward rate ($/points).  For SPG credit card holders, this is a great value for reward points (compare to the 1% and 2% reward options most credit card companies offer).  For those seeking to pay the cash rate for a stay at the Westin Palace, the hotel probably offers a value on par with similar international luxury brand hotels in Madrid.

Location. The Westin Palace is in a great location in the Museum District of Madrid.  The Prado is literally across the street, and lively Plaza de Santa Ana is a short 10-minute walk with plenty of excellent dining options.  Although the Museum District has plenty to offer, it’s not exactly central.  Ironically, the Royal Palace of Madrid is on the opposite side of the city center, over a 20 minute walk from the hotel.  Plaza Mayor, also west of the city center, is about 15 minutes.  Without better knowledge of the accommodation options in the center of town, however, I wouldn’t necessarily argue that the Museum District is not a good location.

Our room at The Westin Palace was modernly furnished and decorated with enjoyable prints of Spanish landscapes and people.

Room. We stayed in a recently renovated Deluxe Room.  Our SPG Gold Status earned us an upgrade from a room without renovations (at least that’s what we gathered from the reception desk).  The room was very modernly furnished, with several enjoyable prints of Spanish landscapes and people for decoration. The bathroom remodel was especially impressive, adorned with natural stone and equipped with luxury fixtures. Our room overlooked the main intersection with the hotel.  There was no balcony, but there was a small place to sit next to the window for people watching. I noticed their window here, and I’m looking for a window installation near me because I’m planning to do something like this at home. Anyway, other than the lack of an outdoor space, we had no complaints about our accommodations.

Dining.  There are several food & drink options at The Westin Palace, but all were out of our price range.  We did splurge on one round at the bar (cocktails were as much as €20!).  We managed breakfast on our own, however.  We were excited about advertisements for a terrace with drink service both on the web and in the hotel elevators.  The terrace ended-up being a complete disappointment.  Firstly, it took a confusing and circuitous journey through the hotel’s fitness center on the top floor to reach.  Then, upon arriving, there were just a few tables with practically no view and a telephone to the lobby for drink orders.  We also did not eat breakfast at The Westin Palace, as the buffet cost an excessive €45.  If you plan on staying at The Westin Palace and have a limited budget, plan on finding dining options elsewhere.

Amenities.  As a 5-star hotel, The Westin Palace offers plenty of amenities to guests.  The fitness center we walked through on the way to the disappointing terrace seems fairly complete, and can be access free-of-charge.  As SPG gold members, we were able to get free wireless internet as our “gift”.  For non-SPG members, expect to pay an exorbitant €19/day, which is sadly in line with other international hotels in Europe.  Although not inside the hotel itself, there is a Starbucks and a Vips cafe (to-go sandwiches, drinks. etc.) in the same building that are very convenient.

I suspect next time we are in Madrid, we will likely decide to stay at an independent hotel or B&B, unless a limited budget and/or a superfluous SPG account balance motivates us to return to The Westin Palace.  Although The Westin Palace worked for our situation on this trip and offered a good location for exploring Madrid, we miss the character of more local establishments and do not believe their cash rate offers guests a great value.

City Overview: Madrid, Spain

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City. Madrid, Spain

When? Friday, September 14 – Sunday, September 16 (2 nights).  The 2 nights were a little rushed.  We visited all of our top priority sites (Prado, Palace, etc.), but another night would have allowed us to consider a day trip to Toledo.

Where? We stayed at the Westin Palace Madrid in a Junior Suite.  The hotel has an excellent location, directly opposite the Prado and a short walk from Plaza de Santa Ana, which is one of Madrid’s liveliest nightlife scenes.  We only paid $90 + 4800 SPG points per night.  The same room usually costs €399.  Without our Starwood points, we likely would not have found the hotel to be a good value.

Transportation. Central Madrid is very walkable, although there are busses and an underground subway to get around.  The only time we hired a cab was for travelling from the train station to the hotel and from the hotel to the airport.

Food. Madrid had an excellent tapas scene, especially around Plaza de Santa Ana.  We had no problem finding a variety of options to piece together a tapas crawl.  In addition to ordering the patatas bravas that are available everywhere, we also tried orejas (pig ears – pictured below), visited a pintxos bar, and sampled champiñones (sauteed mushrooms).  We had one lunch on Plaza Mayor, which has a unique ambiance, but unremarkable food.  Unfortunately, Kristin wasn’t feeling well during our stay in Madrid, so we weren’t able to pursue the cuisine options as aggressively as we’d hoped.  Our impression was that Madrid had more to offer than any of the other Spanish cities we visited on our trip, perhaps only rivaled by Sevilla.

Day Trips. None.  We would have likely visited Toledo if we had more time though.

Attractions. The highlight for us was the Prado.  We aren’t art lovers, but we found our visit to the Prado very enjoyable.  The Prado is our new favorite art museum in Europe, far surpassing the Louvre and the Uffizi.  Also, it is nice that the Prado is free in the evenings, and we found the crowds to be very bearable.  We also enjoyed our visit to the Madrid Palace.  All of the important rooms are open to the public at the Madrid Palace, and visitors really gain an appreciation for the grandeur of Spanish royalty.  We also visited the Reina Sofia (modern art museum), Plaza Mayor, Puerta del Sol, and Retiro Park.

Language Barrier. Almost everyone spoke English.  We had some minor communication difficulties at a pharmacy and one of the less busy tapas bars, but overall the language barrier was very manageable.

Cost. The cost of food seemed comprable to other places in Spain.  As could be expected, our meal on the Plaza Mayor was probably overpriced considering the quality of the food.

Advice.  Dedicate at least one night to a tapas crawl.  Wonder along some of the smaller streets around Plaza de Santa Ana, to avoid some of the more crowded and touristy options.  Although the Prado and the Madrid Palace are worth a visit, the cuisine scene is what really impressed us.

Closing comments.  Madrid is often a focus of many travel itineraries in Spain.  Appropriately so, considering its status as the nation’s capital.  However, it is a relatively young city and lacks some of the history and tradition found in other European cities.  We would prioritize a stop in Andalucía above Madrid if time is limited, but still believe Madrid is worth at least two nights if time permits.

 

Day Trip to Nerja from Granada

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We originally wanted to fit a few days at the Costa del Sol (Spain’s South coast) into our latest trip itinerary, but we just didn’t have enough time.  As a compromise, we decided to squeeze in a short day trip to the town of Nerja while we were staying 3 nights in Granada.  Alsa, a bus carrier in Spain, runs 7 trips per day to connect the two towns.  Each trip takes approximately 2 to 2½ hours and costs €10 each way.  The bus station in Granada is not centrally located, but can be reached easily by local buses or taxi.  The Nerja station is also not central, but is a quick 10 minute walk to the main retail and restaurant area or a 10-20 minute walk to any of the town’s great beaches. Although a trip back and forth is a lot to fit into a day, we thought our journey to Nerja was well worth the time investment.  We experienced a whole new culture of Spain, and enjoyed some excellent sunshine, cheap food, and warm Mediterranean water.

The ride to Nerja on the Alsa bus was very pleasant.  The drive follows a major highway that skirts by the Sierra Nevada mountains.  It passes over several dramatic gorges and by  many wind turbines, both major feats in engineering.  After reaching the ocean, if follows along the local road connecting all the coastal towns.  There are at least 2 stops between Granada and Nerja.  One nice surprise was that our Alsa bus to Nerja had free wifi on-board, which allowed us to do trip planning en route.  We were not so fortunate on our way back.

Once arriving in Nerja, we followed the road down to the Balcony of Europe, which is pictured above.  On the way, we picked-up a beach towel for €6 (well worth it in comparison to dragging your own all around Europe).  The Balcony of Europe offers some very picturesque views of the surrounding beaches, coastal mountains, and the expansive Mediterranean.  Africa is likely too far away to see even on a very clear day, but it’s exciting thinking it’s just beyond the horizon.

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Traveling on RENFE Through Spain

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Back in July, I posted on our positive and money-saving experience of booking tickets online before our trip.  I figure I’d post a follow up on our success with using the online tickets, as well as our experience on riding RENFE’s trains.  We bought tickets for 3 individual journeys online to connect Barcelona, Sevilla, Granada, and Madrid.

Our original plan was to collect paper copies of our tickets from the self service machines at each train station.  Our desire was to get “real” tickets that my wife could use to scrapbook, but we brought along paper copies from our printer at home as backup (which work just as well, as far as the conductor is concerned).  It’s good we brought along the printouts, because the self service machines at the Barcelona train station did not have a clear option to change languages and certainly no option to print tickets from an advanced purchase (although this is supposedly available).  With little time before our departure, we decided to forego the “real” tickets and head straight to the train. Continue reading →

Mudéjar Elegance at Sevilla’s Alcázar

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Sevilla impressed us all around, from its cathedral to the Barrio de Santa Cruz, but perhaps most at the Alcázar.  The Alcázar is a palace originally built for local Muslim rulers in the 10th century, but then rebuilt by a Christian king in the 14th century.  It is built in the “Mudéjar” style, which is Moorish style built for Christians.  It contains many of the same elements of Moorish architecture (e.g. the Alhambra), but you can also see images of living creatures, which are forbidden in Islamic architecture. 

The Alcázar’s Courtyard of the Maidens (Patio de las Doncellas) is a highlight of not only Sevilla, but all of Spain.

The entrance of the Alcázar looks like a medieval fortress, not that different from other old castles in Europe.  After entering the fortress walls, the first destination is the Admiral’s Room, where visitors can appreciate the space where Columbus, Magellan, and other explorers planned their journeys to the new world.  The real highlight is just beyond, at the Courtyard of the Maidens (pictured above).  The courtyard appears to be perfectly preserved, complete with a reflecting pool and ornate Mudéjar imagery adorning arches.  We took arguably our best photograph in Spain.  Unlike our daytime visit to the Alhambra in Granada, we were able to appreciate the space in nearly complete solitude.

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