Spanish Ritz
A Stay AT MANDARIN ORIENTAL RITZ MADRID
Anniversaries invite reflection, and in Madrid that reflection feels gilded for our 10-year celebration. Arriving at Mandarin Oriental Ritz, Madrid, the sense of occasion begins at the threshold. Beneath a vast crystal canopy, gold and silver leaves by Haberdashery shimmer overhead, their forms inspired by the trees of nearby Buen Retiro Park. Gold speaks to endemic species; silver to those brought from afar, a quiet metaphor for travel converging in one place. Opened in 1910 by César Ritz with architects Charles Mewes and Luis de Landecho, and reimagined by Rafael de La-Hoz with Gilles and Boissier, the Belle Époque landmark carries its history lightly. In Palm Court, a fragmented mirror nods to Velázquez’s Las Meninas, anchoring the hotel firmly within Madrid’s artistic lineage.
Afternoons unfold in the hotel’s private garden, a sanctuary that feels removed from the capital’s tempo. Now animated by an open kitchen and bar, it hums gently with conversation and the rhythm of service. Carabinero prawns arrive vivid and theatrical, their deep scarlet shells giving way to meat that is intensely sweet and briny, folded into paella that tastes unmistakably of the sea. Birds dart between tables, emboldened enough to gather crumbs before lifting back into the trees. For a moment, the city dissolves; it is easy to forget you are in the heart of Madrid.
Step beyond the gates and culture sits within walking distance. The Museo del Prado anchors the neighbourhood, its colonnaded façade leading to rooms where Picasso’s Guernica and Zurbarán’s Still Life with Vessels command quiet reverence. Gallery hopping gives way to tapas taken standing at marble counters, then to a night walk through streets alive with conversation. At San Ginés, churros are dipped into thick chocolate beneath bright lights that have witnessed generations do the same, a ritual as intrinsic to the city as its grand boulevards.
Morning returns us to the leafy calm of Palm Court, where breakfast is served beneath that luminous canopy. Later, Deessa captivates with restored chandeliers, gold-leafed ceilings and vast discs of dried salt mounted like contemporary art. The interplay of heritage and modernity feels seamless, much like Madrid itself. A city of masterpieces and midnight indulgences, of imperial facades and intimate gardens, it frames celebration with effortless grandeur.
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