< SPAIN | MADRID: Hotel Ritz

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Inspired by King Alfonso XIII’s desire to build a luxury hotel to rival the Ritz in Paris, the Hotel Ritz in Madrid shares with the Ritz hotels in Paris and London a reputation as one of the truly original grand luxury hotels in Europe. The Hotel Ritz opened its doors in 1910 in the presence of His Majesty King Alfonso XIII. The hotel was designed and built under the personal supervision of the legendary hotelier Cesar Ritz, from whom the name was adopted. The Ritz has played a crucial role in the life of Madrid for over a century. Still today, the hotel remains a key attraction for many to this European capital.

At the beginning of the last century, King Alfonso XIII returned from his trips around Europe full of impressions of the Palaces that he had visited, leaving him overwhelmed with new ideas and plans for the Spanish capital. Madrid was a city of intense vitality, with magnificent buildings and beautiful gardens; nevertheless, something was missing.

The King was the first person to recognise how much the city would benefit from a great hotel of luxury; a hotel of the same standing as the Ritz of Paris, or London. He did not waste time in putting these ideas into practice and the dream of the monarch began to take shape.

The construction of the Ritz had begun - spacious, luminous and comfortable - with the endorsement of the Ritz Development Company Charles Mewes of Paris, and Luis de Landecho of Madrid were the architects in charge and in just a short time the walls of the future hotel rose above the magnolias, cedars and acacias of the Prado. At the time of its opening the Hotel Ritz provided the latest in luxury and comfort, offering four to five bathrooms in each section of the hotel and a telephone on each floor next to the elevator. With facilities like these, the Ritz instantly became one of the most luxurious hotels in the world.

Today the Hotel Ritz continues these traditions, although televisions and telephones are now standard for all rooms, along with the provision of high speed internet Wireless connections to serve the needs of today's travellers. King Alfonso XIII and his dream of a grand hotel was certainly realised and 98 years later, the unequalled style of hotel management which César Ritz created is still present at the Ritz Madrid, despite the changes of times.

Guest book include names: King Alfonso XIII and his Queen Victoria Eugenia, The Prince of Wales and Princess Diana, Prince Ranier and Princess Grace of Monaco, Margaret Thatcher, Fidel Castro, Mihail Gorbachov, Eva Peron, Matta Hari, Nelson Mandela, Herbert von Karajan, Arthur Rubinstein, Frank Sinatra, Salvador Dalí, Paulo Coelho, Laurence Olivier, Ava Gardner, Rita Hayworth, Orson Welles, Sofia Loren, Woody Allen, Al Pacino, Robert de Niro, Jerry Lewis, Monica Bellucci, Rowan Atkinson, Barbara Hutton, Alexander Fleming, Yves Saint Laurent...

Additional literature:

#Andreas Augustin, Thomas Cane: Hotel Ritz Madrid
The Most Famous Hotels In the World, 2008 | ISBN-10: 3900692254; ISBN-13: 978-3900692254
English language (Spanish version: ISBN: 9783900692261) | 160 pages | Hardcover

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