Hilton Madrid Airport is now open, and though the airport location might give the hotel its name, its location is only five minutes' drive from IFEMA, Spain's primary fair ground and one of the largest convention and exhibition centres in Europe.
It is also close to the main highway (A2), which connects Barcelona with Madrid.
Although designed with business travellers and the conferencing market in mind, the property is visually striking, consisting of two eight-storey cubes anchored around a 25-metre high atrium and interconnected by a conference and events rooms. The 284 rooms and suites have floor to ceiling windows, three-metre high ceilings, LCD flat screen televisions, as well as high-speed internet access and wireless connectivity.
There are nine suites and 24 new ”Hilton Relaxation Rooms”, which are divided into three distinct zones ””to help guests differentiate their workspace from the relaxation area and the bathroom”, although you really would have to be overworked not to notice the difference between a work table and the hydro spa bath. There is an Executive Lounge for private check-in and check-out, as well as complimentary breakfast and refreshments, accessible for those staying in suites, executive and relaxation rooms.
The hotel”s conference and meeting facilities are all located on the ground floor and can accommodate up to 1,000 guests, with 14 function rooms as well as a ballroom with a six and a half metre high ceiling and a floor space totalling 1,700 sqm.
Restaurant choices include the Ferrum Bar, the Reserva restaurant for Spanish and Mediterranean cuisine, as well as La Plaza, offering all day casual dining and where the daily Hilton breakfast is served.
The first floor of the hotel is home to a Hydrotherapeutic Pool and Fitness centre with a 12-metre long pool equipped with hydro jets and a ”bubble' bench, as well as a sauna, a Hamman and Hilton Fitness by Precor” gym. The retractable roof over the pool and solarium area also allows guests to soak up the Spanish sun during their stay.
The hotel is Hilton's fifth Spanish property. Last year Hilton added two new hotels on the Spanish mainland - Hilton Valencia and Hilton Toledo Buenavista, as well as opening a property on the Algarve. Hilton has named the Iberian Peninsula as one of its key development regions, joining Russia, the UK and Ireland, Italy, Germany, Turkey and Poland as core strategic areas for the introduction of the Hilton Family of hotels in Europe.
This latest opening reflects the dynamic growth across Spain and Portugal, with contracts signed to open two further new properties in Quinta Do Lago and Lisbon. Over the next five years, the company anticipates it will introduce more than 50 Hilton Family hotels across the Iberian Peninsula.
”The opening of Hilton Madrid Airport is another key milestone on our planned journey to open a total of 50 properties in Spain and Portugal over the next five years,” said Wolfgang M. Neumann, President of Hilton Hotels - Europe.
”Today a significant percentage of the country's fifty million plus annual visitors come for business reasons and yet there are few international brands catering to that demand across the country. With the opening of our newest hotel, we now complete our network of purpose-built meetings hotels ” some 1,425 rooms - in the Madrid-Barcelona-Valencia business triangle and are well placed to capitalise on the growing business segment.”
www.hilton.com
Tom Otley