It’s easy to imagine King Alfonso XIII making a similar declaration on the night of October 2 in 1910, when he and his wife, Queen Victoria Eugenia (the granddaughter of Britain’s Queen Victoria), hosted a no-expenses-spared opening party in their purpose-built belle-époque hotel, featuring a ballroom, smoking room and dining room.įront row centre, from left: Queen Victoria Eugenia (wearing a crown), Queen María Cristina of Habsburg (the king’s mother), and King Alfonso XIII at the opening party for their new Ritz Madrid hotel on October 2, 1910.īuilt at No. “Luxury has finally arrived in our city,” Palma proclaims with a radiant smile. People sip espressos, nibble berry-laden pastries, scroll through their phones, and socialise in the sunshine flooding the Palm Court via a vast glass ceiling – a key feature of the hotel’s €99 million ($163 million) three-year renovation. Palma, the hotel’s young digital marketing manager, pauses to take in the mid-morning scene in the ground-floor Palm Court just past reception, where Madrid’s smart set rubs shoulders with in-house guests, the former dressed in light suede jackets and linen the latter in designer runners and athleisure wear. The reception of the Mandarin Oriental Ritz, Madrid features a circular white marble floor crowned with the Remolino Del Retiro sculpture (floral forms in brass and nickel).
“A five-star moment, with Four Seasons and Edition Hotels both opening their first properties in Madrid, and of course, us, after the biggest refresh in the history of this property’s 113 years.” “Madrid is having a moment,” declares Elisa Palma over the clack-clack-clack of her kitten heels across the white marble floor in the reception of the Mandarin Oriental Ritz, one of Europe’s most fabled hotels.
0 kommentar(er)
