Check Into Madrid’s Coolest Boutique Luxury Hotel
CoolRooms Palacio de Atocha is a compelling blend of history, luxury and culture.
World-class art museums housing iconic works from masters ranging from Velázquez to Picasso, a magnificent royal palace, no less than 28 Michelin-starred restaurants, curated shopping experiences showcasing Spanish craftsmanship, elegant plazas and verdant boulevards—the bustling, sophisticated, and history-drenched city of Madrid has it all, along with an ever-changing interplay of light and shadow that is mysterious, romantic and inspiring from sun up to sun down.
Few properties in “La Ciudad de los Mil Soles”—The City of a Thousand Suns—have captured this chiaroscuro effect and refined it over the centuries like CoolRooms Palacio Atocha, a hip boutique hotel near the Literary Quarter with architectural history dating back to 1650 when it was a chapel and convent. First converted into a palace, and then a hotel from 1852 forward, it’s now home to 34 elegant rooms and suites as well as gardens, a secret swimming pool, restaurant and bar.
“Staying in our hotel is like inhabiting the very rooms that surrounded the hall where Velázquez’s Las Meninas was painted in the Royal Alcázar of Madrid,” the property says. Though its sophisticated guests are escorted into its reception hall on foot today, the vaulted, 22-foot-high carriage passageway of yore was designed for aristocrats to roll in by horse-drawn coach to revel in private galas thrown by the mansion’s original owner, a Knight of the Order of King Charles III of Spain.
The nobleman recruited the finest architects and designers to preserve the property’s monastic roots while improving and updating it for pampered inhabitants. From a reception area featuring towering cast-iron columns and cathedral ceilings, guests traipse up the spiraling original staircase, passing decorative elements and medallions, many of which are laurel-wreathed and pay homage to Hermes, the Greek deity. It is no coincidence he was known as the protector of travelers.
In its opulence and lavish comforts the chic hotel décor nods reverentially to nearly 200 years of aristocracy that resided within. Yet there are swaths of Art Nouveau and Arts and Crafts movement touches. Fabric wall coverings with palm prints suggest more modernist inspiration. Rugs and tapestries, lamps and gilded moldings, exude another era, as does the immaculately preserved drawing room, figuratively wafting with cigar smoke from diplomats of the past. Its original Carrara marble hearth provides the majestic focal point.
Designed to convey a visual impact upon arrival, another standout of the entrance is a public space once utilized as a ballroom, its ceilings supernaturally elevated and featuring the original medallion that held a chandelier that provided luminosity upon its visiting luminaries. It speaks of that intricate Madrid lighting that the owners obsessively romance over. It’s difficult to imagine a design concept that melds opulent Second Empire with function-forward nuances inspired by the great 19th century British architect and designer William Morris. This is not your ordinary hotel, more like entering a magical new world altogether.
No two guestrooms or suites are alike, varying in size and configurations. But all are atypically spacious, with equally capacious bathrooms, featuring wide sinks of copper and marble. Neutral contemporary hues mix with classic details, historically informed. Headboards are leather, bedside lanterns are Japanese inspired. Woods and wainscoting wrap the room as the distinct bathrobes do pampered guests.
The rooms of the lower “noble floors” were where the lords of the manor lived and feature sky-high ceilings and mid-century modern touches. One would be hard-pressed to describe the higher floors as what they once were: the servant’s quarters. The lighting and ceiling eaves are sublime, the windows designed to capture natural sun-and-moonlight.
The exclusive rooftop penthouses, some nearly 2,000 square feet, are residential-sized sprawls appointed with “richly decorated molded walls and ceilings,” private terraces, outdoor Jacuzzis, and views of the ancient museums and overall architecture non pareil surrounding the palace. Display cases feature objets d’art including vintage cameras.
The hotel is a strategic point. Located a stone’s throw north of the Barrio de las Letras, named for the Spanish Golden Age of literature and art, it is where noted writers and actors of the Spanish royal court resided. There, “17th- century palaces and homes, like the Casa Museo de Lope de Vega, mixed with modern structures such as the Caixaforum, making it a blend of history and innovation,” the hotel notes.
Just northeast is the Paseo del Arte, encompassing museums such as the Museo del Prado, the Museo Thyssen, the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, and the Biblioteca Nacional. And there are tranquil gardens once designed for the royal court, now urban parks. Madrid ranks after Tokyo as the second city in the world with the most trees per capita.
While there are many restaurants surrounding it, El Patio de Atocha gives reason to stay within the hotel’s cozy confines. Chef Alberto Martinez works with traditional Madrid family recipes melding with “slow food” concepts, all utilizing locally produced fare. Dishes are served within the intimate white-tablecloth dining room or upon the terrace beside the swimming pool in the main courtyard. For more casual tavern-style fare there is EI 34, which features eclectic bar-food fare and a complete cocktail agenda. And the Pool-Garden provides small plates, as well as a creative weekend and holiday brunch.