Brussels/Madrid – October 28, 2021 – Set in the heart of the city, Radisson Blu Hotel, Madrid Prado has been fully refurbished and welcomes guests to enjoy contemporary yet comfortable design, a new all-day dining tapas restaurant and outstanding service. Located in the Barrio de Las Letras, Madrid’s liveliest and most exciting district, the hotel is a stone’s throw from Spain’s top art venues – the Prado, Reina Sofía and Thyssen museums – and within walking distance of the city’s main shopping districts.
“The renovation of Radisson Blu Hotel, Madrid Prado has created a stylish yet warm and welcoming offering for our guests and visitors. Teamed with a new eclectic, forward-thinking restaurant concept and an enviable location within one of Europe’s leading cities, it is a stand-out property within our Radisson Blu portfolio”, says Tom Flanagan Karttunen, Area Senior Vice President for Northern & Western Europe.
The hotel, which occupies an elegant early twentieth-century building, has undergone an extensive refurbishment on all bedrooms and common areas, carefully respecting the listed features that make the property so unique. It has almost 60 rooms and suites, all of which boast enviable views of the Prado Museum and the Paseo del Prado boulevard, and make ideal venues for relaxing or holding small lunches or business meetings.
Each guest room contains all the necessary features to provide a cozy, enjoyable space, including a large armchair and desk. Large photographs by Scandinavian artists adorn the walls and are a nod to Radisson Hotel Group’s origins, while the use of wood and marble create an atmosphere of quality and relaxation. The layout of the bathrooms has been updated, with grey stone used throughout the design. Technological features have also been updated, including a mixer control in the shower that lets you set the temperature automatically before stepping in.
“Radisson Blu Hotel, Madrid Prado is designed to cater to the needs of both leisure and business travelers. What’s important is to concentrate on what really makes a hotel work: comfort and highly trained service, and our aim is to create memorable moments for all our guests”, explains General Manager Sam Bath. “We want the hotel to act like a large-scale exhibition space, so all our rooms feature work by young, emerging artists. And just like an art gallery, we’ll change the pictures and the artists regularly.”
The hotel’s newly-opened restaurant, Lona, showcases a fusion of Spanish and Asian gastronomy, bringing a twist to the traditional tapas. The menu is divided into two sections, with both individual pinchos and dishes to share. Among the former you’ll find tomato bruschetta with anchovies or Iberian ham, spider crab croquettes, and salmon tartare with crunchy jiaozi. The shared dishes include campfire cod, Batavia lettuce tacos with beef ribs and okonomiyaki omelette. Finally, the dessert menu includes delights such as coconut panna cotta, cream and Nutella sandwich and sesame doughnuts.
“There’s a touch of the nostalgic to these dishes. We’ve taken a classic base and updated it with some contemporary touches. You’ll find a quintessential Madrid dish – fried squid – revisited with sunflower-seed romesco sauce and black aioli, patatas bravas with shichimi togarashi (a blend of Japanese spices), and cod with miso, banana leaf, seaweed salad and sesame. We also have a wide selection of vegan dishes”, explains Mitz Vora, Radisson Hotel Group’s culinary director.
For the restaurant interior, the design team at Radisson Hotel Group wanted to create something timeless, with classic touches and natural finishes. The decor combines wood with stone, complemented with large mirrors and velvet chairs that bring a cozy, intimate touch for tourists and locals alike. Another of Lona’s hallmark features is its terrace in the middle of the Plaza de la Platería de Martínez, where guests can make the most of the restaurant’s all-day dining. With the same menu as the indoor dining room, the terrace offers great views of the Prado Museum across the boulevard.
The hotel’s spa is the ideal space for visitors, locals, and hotel guests to relax, unwind and dedicate time to their own wellbeing. It has an indoor heated hydro-massage pool in a central space bathed in natural light. It also features giant rain-effect showers and chromotherapy, a hammam and a relaxation area. What’s more, there is the Thai Room Wellness center, a leading name in massage and other treatments, which draws its inspiration from yoga, Ayurveda, Chinese medicine, traditional Indonesian Jamu massage, Thai massage, and other ancient methods from Southeast Asia.
Radisson Blu Hotel, Madrid Prado is well located for accessing travel hubs; just 400m from Puerta de Atocha train station and a 20-minute drive to Madrid’s international airport.
In 2018, Radisson Hotel Group started an ambitious plan to transform the company. For the Spanish market, the ambition – always with a prudently optimistic approach – is to open more than 20 hotels within the next five years. Radisson Collection Hotel, Magdalena Plaza Sevilla recently opened its doors and, in the coming months, a Radisson Collection hotel will open in Bilbao, and Spain’s first Radisson RED lifestyle property will open in the center of Madrid.
With the health and safety of guests and team members as its top priority, Radisson Blu Hotel, Madrid Prado is implementing the Radisson Hotels Safety Protocol program. The in-depth cleanliness and disinfection protocols were developed in partnership with SGS, the world’s leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company, and are designed to ensure guest safety and peace of mind from check-in to check-out.
