The Westin Palace

Built in 1912 at the former site of the palace of the Duke and Duchess of Medinaceli, and decorated in the same style as the grand Parisian buildings of the Belle Époque, it was, at the time, the largest and most luxurious hotel in Europe.

The hotel has been frequented by artists, intellectuals and politicians. Its records feature renowned names such as painter Ignacio de Zuloaga, who made the Palace his home in Madrid, writer Vicente Blasco Ibáñez and even the mysterious Mata-Hari, who lived at the hotel and whose adventurous spirit, some say, still walks certain rooms.

Other famous guests include Buster Keaton, Pablo Picasso, Federico García Lorca and Luis Buñuel. The hotel also welcomed Dolores del Río, Orson Welles with Rita Hayworth, Hemingway and his famous dry martinis and bullfighters such as Belmonte, El Gallo and Manolete, who left the Palace dressed in their bullfighting costumes on their way to Las Ventas bullring. Apparently, one of the hotel’s most interesting guests was a still relatively unknown Salvador Dalí.

Following its recent refurbishment, Westin Hotels has integrated the latest in technology and wellbeing with its surroundings and its historical legacy.