The Mandarin Oriental Ritz, Madrid is a historic five star Belle Époque hotel in Madrid, Spain at No. 5 in Retiro district, next to the Prado Museum. Opened in 1910, it is owned and managed by the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group. The hotel's façade is a listed national monument.[1]
History
The Hotel Ritz Madrid was built at the behest of King Alfonso XIII[2] who, returning from a tour of Europe, realized that the Spanish Court lacked a hotel with enough pomp for European royalty and other illustrious visitors. His idea was for Madrid to have such a hotel to equal the likes of The Ritz London Hotel and Hôtel Ritz Paris. His own marriage to Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg was another excuse to give Madrid a luxury hotel, the first in the Spanish capital. The king himself contributed part of the capital, along with other members of Madrid society, and he instructed the Ritz Development Company that it would be designed and built under the personal supervision of César Ritz.