At the beginning of the last century, King Alfonso XIII returned from his trips around Europe full of impressions of the Palaces that he had visited. A succession of parks, avenues and grand designs had excited the imagination of the young monarch, leaving him overwhelmed with new ideas and plans for the Spanish capital, Madrid.
Madrid was a city of intense vitality, with magnificent buildings and beautiful gardens; nevertheless, something was missing. The King was the first person to recognise how much the city would benefit from a great hotel of luxury; a hotel of the same standing as the Ritz of Paris, or London.
He did not waste time in putting these ideas into practice. Madrid had to offer its visitors something quite extraordinary: a hotel that could satisfy the refined taste of a new breed of traveller, who at that time was only just beginning to be known as a "tourist".
The dream of the monarch began to take shape. The construction of the Ritz had begun - spacious, luminous and comfortable - with the endorsement of the Ritz Development Company
Charles Mewes of Paris, and Luis de Landecho of Madrid were the architects in charge and in just a short time the walls of the future hotel rose above the magnolias, cedars and acacias of the Prado.
At the time of its opening the Hotel Ritz provided the latest in luxury and comfort, offering four to five bathrooms in each section of the hotel and a telephone on each floor next to the elevator. With facilities like these, the Ritz instantly became one of the most luxurious hotels in the world.
Today the Hotel Ritz continues these traditions, although bathrooms and telephones are now standard for all rooms, along with the provision of high speed internet Wireless connections to serve the needs of today's travellers.
King Alfonso XIII and his dream of a grand hotel was certainly realised and 98 years later, the unequalled style of hotel management which César Ritz created is still present at the Ritz Madrid, despite the changes of times.
