Santo Mauro - Madrid Hotel and Gin Bar

Possibly More Hotel Coverage

I don't cover hotels as a rule. I spread myself too thinly as it is, though I think I would get bored specialising and writing about, say, shoes all the time. Thankfully, timeless classics and hidden gems gives me ample scope to take the road least travelled. And I thought this hotel in Madrid had enough old-world good looks to arouse your attention. Who knows, if any hotel manager out there wishes me to review their penthouse suite or cocktail bar, I might be persuaded to start reviewing hotels more.

Here's the scoop. Hotel Santo Mauro is part of Marriot's Autograph Collection of hotels. The building is the former residence of the Duke of Santo Mauro and is a lovely place to stay, but you can put on your finest duds and have a jolly old non-residents time of it in the cocktail bar too.

Interiors that look like hollowed out factories are all well and good, but they don't really inspire you to dress up — quite the opposite. The civilised Santo Mauro gently chivvies you into putting on a tie and polishing your shoes. I mean, how could you despoil the look of the place by wearing a T-shirt and jeans? It's just not done. And as Her Britannic Majesty's Secretary of State has requested (on my passport) that Spain allows me to 'pass freely without let or hindrance', I'm not going to let our side down with uncouth behaviour. I never forget I'm a guest of the country when travelling.

Scene of the Crime

It was done in the Gin Bar with copious amounts of gin. As mentioned in a previous post, I was very settled in the Gin Bar at the Santo Mauro, a very comfortable space to enjoy super generous measures of Hendricks gin.