Riu Plaza Espana

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

4067 reviews

• 

  Fabulous hotel!

  This is one of the best hotels we have ever stayed in. We couldn't fault anything. Easy check-in experience. Two dedicated secure rooms to leave your bags in if you're early arriving or late leaving. Friendly, efficient and attentive staff. Beautiful room with huge comfy bed separate lounge area, safe and fridge, his and hers basins & walk in rainfall showers in bathroom. Fabulous views of city from window. Room was very clean and cleaned on a daily basis. Breakfast was superb. A massive selection of hot and cold items including bacon, sausages, scrambled/fried eggs omelettes made on demand, ham & cheese toasties, cold meats, salad items, smoked salmon, cheeses, cereals, pastries, breads, good selection of coffees, lovely smoothies and juices and also sparkling wine! No issues with waiting times for tables even at the busiest time. The rooftop SkyBar on the 27th floor is a must-do! Fabulous 360° views of the city and there is also a glass floor section to walk across if you're brave enough! Easily the best hotel in Madrid and we'll worth the money we paid. We will definitely be coming back!

  Nov 28, 2025
• 

  Row Row row your boat

  Ideal location , neat rooms but dull dark and dreary corridors which hotels architects and interior designers should look into .

  Nov 22, 2025
• 

  Top notch all around

  We stayed at the RIU for the commanders/dolphins nfl game so the hotel was at capacity but that did not effect excellent service. Every employee we came in contact with at this hotel was ready to assessed with anything you needed. We were on the eighth floor and The room was clean and large with a very comfortable king bed. It was a very nice perk to have bottle of water replenished everyday. I can’t say enough good things about the breakfast buffet. It was loaded with anything you could possibly want and free mimosas! There was never a wait and again staff was very friendly and helpful. The rooftop bar had amazing views and great drinks. Lobby bar was nice gathering spot for all the fans. You can’t beat the location. I would definitely stay here again and recommend it to anyone visiting Madrid. Thank you RIU for the excellent service

  Nov 20, 2025
• 

  Great location

  Nice hotel in a great location for exploring the city. Nice practical clean rooms, ours looked as if recently refurbished. Good selection of food at breakfast. Sky bar impressive but drinks slightly overpriced.

  Nov 18, 2025
• 

  Horrible service and elevator system

  This hotel was included with our tour. There were a total of six of us. Upon first glance, the hotel seemed really nice. Unfortunately our experience wasn't very bad. The best part of the hotel is the location, walkable to many local sites. In our first standard room, the bed was very comfortable and the bathroom was clean and with good water pressure in the shower. When we came back at the end of the tour though we were all given accessibility rooms and I did not like those at all. The bed faced the bathroom and the bathroom smelled like old pipes. Also, their toiletries were not good - same brand as the smaller B&B we stayed at before going there. The hotel has one of those newer elevator systems where you have to tap and then the system will tell you which elevator to use. The system was a complete mess as it would route everyone to one elevator without factoring in how many people could fit into the very narrow rectangular shaped elevator. It also calculated one person per request which is obviously not always the case. In addition, some people have luggage. As a result, sometimes the elevator you are assigned to is full and you have to tap and then get back in line all over again repeatedly. Then people started trying to jump into elevators they weren't assigned to because it took so long. It was chaos. I ended up walking many times up and down the stairs because the elevator took too long. The algorithms for the elevator need to be fixed. On top of that, the elevator is long and narrow so you're almost kissing the person next to you, if you manage to even get on. I think at one point this hotel was probably pretty high-end, but you can really see the wear and tear. The hallways are dingy and the carpeting looks very dirty. The rooms could also use upgrades. The lobby is also awkwardly designed so you're always bumping into people, especially in front of the elevator where there's also a large staircase in the center blocking the way. The service at the hotel was the worst I had during my entire 18-day trip in Spain. Prior to arrival, I emailed the hotel and asked if we could have a package delivered from a local store. They told us that they could only hold it for two business days. I have never had a hotel be so strict. On the day of check-in at 9:00 a.m, I notified the front staff that we had a package that would be delivered that day and was told that this would be no problem. A few hours later while out on a tour, I received notification that the package was rejected by the hotel. I emailed the hotel and they said that the concierge made a mistake. I asked them if they could please call and have the package redelivered. I did not receive a reply. When I got back to the hotel early evening, I spoke to the receptionist, who told me to go to concierge and concierge told me that they did not make a mistake, it was "somebody else in the back". I asked if they could at least try to help us get the package redelivered. At 10:30 pm I was told to go downstairs and talk to them for further assistance. I went downstairs only to have them tell me the same thing, which was to go take a taxi to the store and pick it up myself. I also spoke to a manager who said that, "things happen" and that they are not going to pay for a taxi. At no point did i make any request for monetary compensation. I only asked them for help with redelivery as I do not speak Spanish and I do not have a phone plan with international dialing. I spoke to a total of six people and not one single person even acknowledged, let alone apologized, for their mistake. I understand that mistakes happen but their lack of accountability was unprofessional. Our tour included luggage pick up from and delivery to the rooms. On the day of departure, they were 45 minutes late picking up the luggage so we were then late for our tour. On the day we came back at the end of the tour, it took 1.5 hours to deliver the bags to the rooms. In addition, throughout our stay, reception, doormen, and bellboys all had a bad attitude- super snooty as if we weren't good enough to stay at their hotel. On the morning of checkin, we left our bags because the rooms weren't ready. When we came back, the bellboy didn't even say anything - just pointed at the luggage room indicating we should go find our bags. I have never been treated so poorly, at any hotel regardless of whether it was a bed and breakfast or 5 star hotel. I think before Covid this hotel was probably considered high end and because they're not doing as well, they're taking tour company bookings and the staff look down on tour groups. When you're working in hospitality, you cannot have this type of attitude. I gave Globus this feedback and I would never stay at this hotel again if I had any other choice.

  Nov 14, 2025