Alphonse XIII liked to travel in the intervals between economic crises and political cataclysms. He was especially attracted by the neighboring European spaces. Crowned colleagues opened the doors of their palaces to the wandering monarch. Sometimes for a change, he stayed in luxury European hotels. Raised on the strict, if not ascetic, Spanish palace architecture of the Escorial type, Alfons XIII was struck by the pomp and splendor of the decoration of foreign residences. Returning from another trip, he could not resist. The highest permission was given (read - the order) to create interiors that are in no way inferior to foreign ones. The place of incarnation of the royal dreams was the hotel, later called the pearl of the Madrid hotel business. Patronage over the construction carried out the famous Ritz Development Company. At the beginning of the new millennium, the Ritz acquired another giant - the company Orient Express. The hotel was created by French architect Charles Muis and Spaniard Don Luis de Landecho. Both of them clearly understood the wishes of the crowned person, and they coped with their task in record time. The Ritz was inaugurated in 1910 in the presence of King Alfons.

The first guests were amazed at the richness of the hotel. With bathrooms in Italian white marble and golden sinks at that time could hardly argue any world hotel residence. As well as with such technical neologisms for that time as an elevator and a telephone.

For almost a century in the hotel, little has changed. 137 rooms and 30 luxury suites are still welcoming guests. With such a number of them, it would seem difficult to avoid repetitions in the design. The Ritz decorators succeeded. Each room is made in its own color range. Each has its own decorative elements. This is the Spanish classics in particular and the classics in general. The rooms are decorated with crystal chandeliers, handmade carpets and vintage engravings. The king-size and queen-size beds are most welcome in the hotel - the brainchild of a representative of the royal family.

With all the striving for European designs, the hotel has retained a purely Spanish spirit. And, as is usual in Spain, a country where lunch is the most important component of the day and lasts more than one hour, everything Spanish is primarily in the kitchen. Traditional local dishes with tempting names "paella" and "gazpacho" await gourmets in the restaurant "Goya". In the name of another well-known representative of the Spanish picturesque bohemia, Diego Velázquez, was named the bar at the Ritz Hotel.

The hotel is located in the very center of the city vis-à-vis with the Prado Museum and is surrounded by gardens with centenary vegetation. You can get here by going through a wide terrace. Here, like 100 years ago, social events are arranged and, as in 1910, prime ministers and blue-blooded people gather.

Recently, the Ritz fell in love with Hollywood film actors and pop stars: George Clooney, Pierce Brosnan, Elton John. Often there are politicians responsible for the fate of the world: Vladimir Putin, Tony Blair, Bill Clinton.