PRICE:
Frommer's Highly Recommended

You can enjoy the best of both worlds at this multifaceted hotel that offers totally up-to-date facilities in a tastefully converted 15th-century mansion, whose courtyard served as a resting place for coaches on their journeys across Spain. In fact, it's two buildings merged into one, and from 1800 until 1951 it was the atmospheric site of the U.S. Embassy in Spain. (The ambassador was so at home here at the end of the embassy's tenure that he at first refused to move to the new modern building on Calle Serrano.) After reverting to its original status as a private residence, it opened as a hotel in 2002. As an ultimate concession to modern needs, some floors are nonsmoking. Outstanding period features include the original facade and inner courtyard as well as wood paneling and stucco ceilings in the rooms. Both the splendid rooftop restaurant and the highly coveted presidential suite (complete with its own Jacuzzi) provide fine views of the historic and picturesque Austrias area. Many rooms overlook the Plaza de las Descalzas. Best bets are those on the fifth floor with balconies. Parking is in a nearby garage with a separate exit straight to the hotel.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's Madrid, 3rd Edition, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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