Silken Puerta America, Madrid

Author's product rating:   

Value for Money	Good
Quality of Rooms	Excellent
Standard of Service	Excellent
Quality of Food & Drink	Good

Advantages:	Friendly staff, great ambiance, decor, cleanliness
Disadvantages:	Can be crowded

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

If you want to visit the wonderful city of Madrid and stay in true luxury, then the Silken Puerta America is the place to go. Great facilities, excellent location, friendly staff, and surprisngly reasonable prices if you "shop around" the Net for special deals.

Located about 2 minutes walk from Caragena metro station, the Hotel is in a quiet part of town, and yet the centre, with all it's attractions, is just two metro stops away, and a return metro journey costs only 2 euros, which is less than £2.00. Compare that with the minimum £4.00 single on London's Underground, to see what good value Madrid can be as a holiday destination.

From the outside, the Puerta America does not look anything special - just a high rise with some strange grafitti-style writing in many languages, all over the facade......... but step over the threshold into the large and airy Reception area, and you are in another world. Each of the floors of the Hotel has been individually designed by world-renowned designers, so each has it's own unique style, and each room is different. Staying here is not your usual stay in a faceless Hotel were you could be anywhere in the world. Some rooms are all white (quite hard on the eyes after a heavy night out!), others all blue in a lovely relaxing style, some others predominantly red or black. It depends on what floor you are staying, and the corridors and lobbies of each floor mirror these same room styles, so that a trip up in the lift can become quite an experience, as each floor opens up into a new world. The Hotel are understandably proud of their unusual decor, and guests are invited to choose which floor and which desginer the wish to stay in, although obviously this is subject to availability at the timeof booking.

Once inside the rooms, they are large, airy and tastefully decorated, with flat screen Plasma TVs, wireless Internet connections, a large bath and/or shower, and extremely comfortable beds. The rooms are all spotlessly clean, quiet and well-serviced.

There is a large and spacious breakfast room on the 1st floor, serving continental and English breakfast in a buffet style. Or if you prefer you can take coffee and pastries on the ground floor, where there is a Bar/coffee lounge where you can relax and watch the world go by.

The Hotel makes a lot of money from company bookings/exhibitions and events, so sometimes the Lobby Area can become quite noisy and crowded - for example at break time durng a conference or meeting, when everyone pours out at the same time to get some fresh air, have a bathroom break, or go for a cigarette. However, apart from these times, everything is surprisingly quiet for such a large Hotel in such a large city, and the Reception staff are always happy to help and speak fluent English. The Business Centre is fairly pricy, but tere is a cheap Internet Cafe (charging1 euro for an hour's Internetuse), jst 5 minutes walk from the Hotel, and also a selection of small shops and a supermarket sto cater for all your needs.

So all in all, a great Hotel, and a great experience for your next trip to Madrid.