Hotel Reviews that you can trust!

OK, you do not last 40+ years in the travel business without some muscle.  I have information, reviews, current information and most important my personal knowledge and experience for many hotels around the world from Fargo, North Dakota to Kathmandu, Nepal.  And of course I have a portfolio of very special hotels in Spain.  Yes, I have personal reviews based on actual visits (me sleeping there!)  and client visits to thousands of hotel around the world.  I am happy to share these reviews with you.

A special hotel in Madrid:

The Principal Hotel in Madrid just off the Gran Via

The Principal Madrid Hotel*****

The Principal is much more than a luxurious modern boutique hotel. Its prime location in the heart of Madrid, its exclusive entrance, its 76 elegantly appointed rooms, the stunning Terraza (rooftop terrace,7th floor) with what may be the best views in Madrid, and its Ático (penthouse, 6th floor) where avant-garde haute cuisine meets classic cocktails in a space with the best music are reasons enough not to miss the opportunity of discovering this renovated building, now one of the capital’s must-see sights. The Principal is not a Virtuoso hotel…..but it has everything it needs to be one someday! I do recommend that you book this hotel with me in the Superior Room 23 sq. meters, Premium 25 sq. meters or Jr. Suite 35 sq. meters as the lower category rooms can be a bit small in size.

 A special place in Catalunya…..Spain!

Hostal Spa Empuries on the Costa Brava on the beach.

Hostal Spa Empuries****on the Costa Brava

(north of Barcelona)

The hostel empúries spa rests on an ancient site, located next to the Greco-Roman ruins of Empuries, in l’Escala and whose recollection and beauty attracted both Iberians and Greeks sailors, as the early Romans who settled on the peninsula Iberian.

Hostal Spa Empúries is located in a privileged environment of the Costa Brava, on the beach of Portitxol, in the fishing village of L’Escala Reaching Scale follow the signs leading to the ruins of Empúries.  In this privileged location we offer a proposal for Responsible Tourism, ecological and sustainable, in the heart of the Costa Brava.  And the restaurant!  Villa Teresita  Restaurant is a gastronomic space eco-Mediterranean cuisine with a menu prepared by the chef own Rafa Peña, offering a cuisine made, ecological, modern and full of pure flavors and nuances.

El Restaurante Villa Teresita es un espacio gastronómico de cocina eco-mediterránea

Rooms:

Sea View rooms……All rooms have flat screen television, telephone, air conditioning and heating, safe, hairdryer, complimentary welcome, and minibar.  Rooms 100% Smoke Free.

Spa facilities Empúries

Our Spa Empúries offers the following facilities:

A gym with large windows overlooking the pine trees that surround us and the sea, which will invite more search more vitality through our high quality equipment working the three fundamental elements of fitness: cardio-vascular, the muscle strength and stretching.  A water area with relaxing and stimulating activities:  Recreational pool with temperature between 32 and 36 degrees, bubble, massage jets plantar, gooseneck and waterfall cobra.

•  Swimming pool 14 meters long and 28 to 26 degrees
• Hammam starry sky
•  Dry Sauna with Garden
•  Shower bucket of cold water
•  Pressure shower waterfall
•  Shower bi-thermal sensation
•  Steam shower bi-thermal

A zone of treatments and therapies with four comfortable cabins where we perform a variety of treatments and therapies always using materials and products consistent with our philosophy of eco responsibility and our concept of holistic health.  A relaxation room exclusive to rest before or after your treatments where you can take to rehydrate, eat a fruit or just browse one of our books.

Another great hotel in Madrid……….

Hotel Hospes Puerta Alcalá *****

The Five Star *****Hospes Hotel Puerta Alcala in the center of Madrid

Located in a royal house from the 19th Century in the heart of the capital, this 5 Star Boutique Hotel, Hospes Puerta de Alcalá, can be found at Alcalá Gate and in front of the inspiring Retiro Park. It is a beautiful building projected by the architect José María de Aguilar in 1883 and today has a warm combination of elegance, architecture, gastronomy and a revitalizing pureness together with a comfortable access to the intense economic, cultural and artistic activity of the capital.

Its decoration combines warm colors, noble wood in dark colors, and white marbles, filling the surroundings with light and tranquility. To meet and taste the flavors of the earth, Hospes Puerta de Alcalá, as a boutique hotel, offers different areas, all of them with its own personality and style, perfect settings to discover flavors and sensations in an avant-garde building.

This 5-star gem is located on one of the most beautiful plazas in Madrid.  You are a short walk to The Prado Museum and the Thyssen and Reina Sofia Museums.  It is an intimate hotel with just 41 rooms.  For many, the newly renovated Bodyna Spa and Wellness center is the heart of the hotel. Compact and stylish, the facility’s new decor takes its cues from the chic modern common areas. There is also an indoor pool complete with a gentle waterfall. Most rooms have floor-to-ceiling windows opening to small balconies with park or plaza views. Wall-mounted flat-screen LCD TVs, large overstuffed armchairs and metallic cafe tables give rooms a loft feel. Rooms also come with phones, free Wi-Fi, safes, minibars and complimentary newspapers. Baths, some open-plan, are either separate tubs and showers or a combination of the two. They offer all-natural toiletries, robes and hair dryers.

New Gastro & Cocktail space in the exclusive frame of the Puerta de Alcalá, you can taste, savor and enjoy…Malvar opens their gates, a new multiple concept, to taste a complete gastronomic offer and to savor avant-garde cocktails of the capital.  Malvar is an innovative and cosmopolitan space, as only witness, the emblematic Puerta de Alcalá. Privileged framework to enjoy Events, Gastronomy and Cocktails.  A place where you can enjoy the music and the enigmatic decoration, a garden full of mallows in the Barrio de Salamanca.  A meeting point, events, appetizers, after-work and of course, lunches and dinners in order to feel a renewed gastronomic experience, which force is located in the quality and the continuous innovation. Through the elaboration of unique dishes, we achieve that passion for the good taste goes further than reason.  Hospes Puerta de Alcalá also has a Coffee bar and a 24h Room Service

Comfortable, elegant rooms at the Hospes

• Because Tom Smith Travel-The Travel Society,  a VIRTUOSO MEMBER is a Preferred Partner  You receive special amenities when you book your reservations for most Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, Rosewood Hotels, Fairmont, Raffles,Westin,Shangri-la,  Mandarin,  Ritz Carlton and many other luxury hotels.  I have a personal relationship with thousands of luxury hotels worldwide!  With Virtuoso I can guarantee you a value to your travel dollar that YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO FIND ON THE INTERNET.  I can’t tell you how many sorry stories I have heard from travelers about how they have overpaid for luxury hotel nights.  Please talk to me and tell me what it is you are looking for and I am absolutely sure I can find the correct travel value for your next hotel night.

• Enjoy benefits like these below:

• Daily Full American Breakfast for two.
• Extra value added amenity, such as spa credits, golf credits, or lunch
• Upgrade of one category, based on availability at time of check-in(excluding signature suites and villas.
• Complimentary high speed internet access for all suite bookings.

And Tom Smith Travel is honored to belong to the following exclusive hotel programs that give you added value and extra amenities and service at hotels round the world:

Benefits to guests are different at each hotel but here is an example of what you can expect:

• Daily full American breakfast for two people per bedroom, served through In-Room Dining or in the hotel restaurant (including buffets)
• Food and beverage credit of USD100
• Upgrade of one category, based on availability at time of check-in (excluding signature suites and villas)
• Welcome note at check-in acknowledging you and your travel agency and the amenities that are being extended
• Complimentary high-speed Internet access for all suite bookings.

Why should you use a Virtuoso travel advisor?