AC Palacio del Retiro

An extravagantly decorated Edwardian palace opposite Retiro park and near the ‘golden 3’ museums, with huge contemporary bedrooms and a top-notch spa and restaurant

This palatial residence was built in 1908 for an Oriol aristocrat who brought in Mauméjean stained glass, Julio Romero frescoes, a Talavera ceramic fountain, oak flooring, a dozen marble columns and a wrought-iron lift to transport her horses to a rooftop exercise ring. These are still in place, but now offset by arresting art – Lichtenstein prints on glass doors, pink sculptures with ET-heads and monkey lips in the reception lightwell – which were added by the AC chain when they converted it to a 5-star hotel in 2004. The result is bold, imposing, occasionally incongruous but always extravagant.

Huge bedrooms retain ornate plaster moulding overhead and patterned parquet underfoot, but gain chrome chairs, defiantly angled kingsize beds and excellent bathrooms, some with jacuzzis. Arched windows look through maple branches to the trees of Retiro park. 50 black-clad staff (that's one per room) provide faultless service, from the subterra-nean spa to the intimate nuova cocina restaurant. If you want to spoil yourselves on a special weekend or anniversary, with 3 world-class museums on your doorstep, you could not do better.

Highs

• Probably Madrid’s most luxurious boutique hotel, combining mod cons (jacuzzis, spa, wi-fi) and understated contemporary design with Edwardian elegance
• Much hipper than elder sister, AC Santo Mauro, and better placed too (5-10 mins from the Prado, Thyssen and Reina Sofia; 1 min from Retiro park)
• Perfect for combining sunset walks, spa treatments, shopping and art

Lows

• Modern, minimalist grey, chrome and brown furniture clashes – deliberately, but not always successfully – with the ornate plaster- wood- and ironwork
• 40-inch plasma TVs (in some rooms) may feel a little ostentatious
• It’s not cheap, but service is truly 5-star, and frequent promotions make it better value than the Santo Mauro