The arithmetic is simple and the Dear Hotel knows it: a rooftop pool and bar on Gran Via at a price point that makes the Four Seasons look like a different currency. What you sacrifice in marble lobbies and thread counts you recover in the blunt pleasure of floating above Madrid's most famous avenue with a drink in hand, watching the city's geometry from an elevation that costs a fraction of what the neighbouring towers charge. The rooms are clean-lined and compact — design-hotel vocabulary without the design-hotel markup — and the higher floors mitigate Gran Via's considerable street noise. This is not a hotel for those who require pampering. It is a hotel for those who understand that the rooftop is the room, the city is the decor, and the value proposition is the luxury.
Location
Plaza de España, Madrid
Insider Intel
The rooftop pool and bar — this is the entire thesis of the hotel, and it delivers. Request a higher floor for reduced Gran Via noise and better views. The bar at sunset when the light turns the avenue gold. Do not expect Four Seasons service; expect a rooftop that rivals it.
Late May through September for the rooftop pool at full potential. Sunset is the daily event. The Gran Via location is central year-round, though the street noise favours higher floors regardless of season.
Gran Via 80, Plaza de España. Plaza de España metro (Lines 2, 3, 10), 2 minutes on foot. Rooms from EUR 100. The best value rooftop pool in Madrid — the views compete with hotels charging three times more. Gran Via is noisy; request a high floor or interior-facing room for sleep quality. The rooftop bar is open to non-guests but pool access is for guests. Central location for walking to everything west of Sol.