The Walt Madrid

I don’t know if I was just unlucky but I can’t say I had a great experience at the hotel. For me, the pros are definitely the location and the value for money (all hotels in the neighborhood were much more expensive). The staff was very friendly and housekeeping kept the room clean. The rooms are comfortable and spacious - you can definitely tell that this was an apartment building that has been converted into a hotel. But there were a couple of reasons that led me to leave this 3 star review: - the hotel was refurbishing the reception, so there was no breakfast at the hotel - at some point, when I was waiting downstairs with my luggage, the staff was eating / having lunch and chatting right in front of me, which looked very unprofessional - I needed a glass to drink my medicine at night and the front desk agent told me “there should be a glass in your room [there was nothing bar-related] and unfortunately we don’t have any glasses here for you - There was no bathroom at the reception floor, so if you check out and wait for your time to go to the airport downstairs, you will have to find somewhere else to go to the bathroom - There was a situation where a guy that I met in the club came to the hotel and said that he was staying in the room with me and the front desk agent simply gave him a card and allowed him to come to my room without my permission (and I wasn’t even there). Luckily he didn’t have any bad intentions, but this is a very serious security gap. - There is no “do not disturb” sign available

I wish I had read the reviews before I arrived. Booked the hotel through Secret Escapes thinking it would meet their usual standards. The hotel has changed hands and going through a refurbishment programe and won't be completed until November. There is no restaurant or bar facility for breakfast or a complimentary drink on arrival as promised. The stairs, which in the event of a fire would be your only means of escape are cluttered with paint cans, tools and building debris. There are no upgrades available. Stayed in one of the refurbished rooms. The air con is preset and won't go any lower than 24c. The bed side electrical socket is loose and doesn't work. Contacted Secret Escapes to request a refund and to be moved to another hotel, the agent promised to ring me back in 10-15 mins, I'm still waiting.

The hotel’s location is very central and a short easy walk to Gran Vía metro station. As well as that it’s convenient for many large shops. The hotel was certainly clean. Furnishings in our room were minimal. The bed was comfortable. The shower was very good. Bathroom toiletries were scant and basic. WIFI was excellent. Breakfast (a not very extensive buffet) on weekdays is supposed to be until 10am. However, guest arrivals at 940am during our stay were far from welcomed. Fortunately we had reached the dining room at 930am. Consequently on the subsequent mornings we felt under great pressure not to linger in our bedroom. The tortilla, orange juice and Pascual yoghurt were all enjoyable. Staff attendance was perfunctory rather than exuding any ‘happy to be there spirit’. Regarding the hotel bar “ the chic and trendy ambiance” was absent during our stay.

This hotel is nothing like how the photos portray. Positives room clean and good location. Negatives:we were told that we would get a room upgrade (subject to availability) and surprise, surprise we didn't get one. The room had a view of a brick wall. We only had one bottle of water between us for 4 nights. Breakfast was very limited and the only hot item (scrambled egg) was cold. I asked for a cappuccino from their machine at breakfast and was told this was extra although the staff were drinking it freely. The welcome drink from Bob's Bar was given although the girl on Reception was alone and reluctant to serve. We were also told that we weren't allowed to take drink back to the room as this was management policy. Knowing what I know now I would not stay at this hotel if I returned to Madrid.

The only thing this hotel got going for them is the location. It is close to shops, restaurants and the Metro. Room is small and service is terrible. Lobby is unpresentable, check-in process is even worst. The staffs were outright unfriendly. Don't bother for asking for anything, not even the direction. On top of that, you can hear everything from next door and the hallway. There is no effort to help guest feel welcome at all. It was not worth what we paid for.

Parsimonious in the extreme. Bath towels are intended to last your entire stay. One of ours was removed on the first day and was not replaced despite repeated requests, so one of us had to go without showers for the remaining days. No a/c at night, even though it was unseasonably warm, so we sweltered. (It was too noisy outside to open windows.) No help available with printing airport boarding passes. Only one set of coffee filters in the room, no replacements provided. Breakfast very limited, with no fresh items apart from a few pieces of tomato, and the coffee was an unspeakable concoction served in flasks. There was a coffee machine on display in the breakfast, but frustratingly it was out of bounds. The television cover was restricted to a few Spanish channels with no international coverage, so the one of us who didn't understand Spanish was utterly frustrated and the one who did had to spend all the time translating. This was our most disappointing stay in Madrid. We shall not be returning.

Please do not go, the staff is so rude we were here for 3 nights we could not even use the bar for the two nights and then asked to use the bar to wait for our taxi, the same girl said NO she had cleaned the floor. We were woken up on the first morning by loud drilling the place is a disgrace charging a premium rate for a 1 star service.