Madrid on Business - Bauza Hotel & Restaurant

Offering nicely accommodated rooms for just over 120 Euro, the Bauza Hotel & Restaurant is a great place to stay. The rooms are very small by American standards, but acceptable by European standards. The amenities are especially nice, with chrome and hardwood throughout. The room came with a small (14-inch to 16-inch) flat-panel television with three or four English-language channels.

The bathroom was very nice, with a full-size enclosed shower. The towels were oversize and relatively soft. The bed itself was between a twin and double, and while not a futon, it was reminiscent of one. It was quite comfortable. The maid service was prompt and thorough. The room was very clean.

The desk area in the room was quite small and crowded due to a rather bulky CD player/alarm clock combination unit. The CD player went unused, and while a nice touch, it made the room feel unnecessarily crowded. The hotel provides free Internet access, but in the room it is not wireless, so remember your Ethernet cable. But if you forget, don't worry. The helpful front-desk staff will provide a cable at no cost. Wi-fi is available in the lobby and conference rooms, and reception was very good.

The meeting rooms are very nice and the food service provided during the meeting and for lunches was abundant and tasty. One major drawback of the conference rooms is the lack of a speaker phone. The hotel did not have one available. The result? A hotel-provided mobile phone set on speaker. It was difficult for all in the room to hear and be heard. For short meetings that might be okay, but for half-day or all-day meetings, don't plan on a conference call from this hotel.

The restaurant at the hotel was one of the best I've eaten at on my travels. The food was delicious and the presentation incredible. The wait staff was pleasant and spoke some English, so there was no communication problem. The menu was only in Spanish, though, which led to some guessing as to the best choice. The breakfast buffet was plentiful and very good as well.

Bottom line: If traveling to Madrid and you need a hotel for your business meetings, the Bauza Hotel & Restaurant comes highly recommended. (The only thing that kept me from "very highly recommended" was the lack of a speaker phone for meetings.)