Leonardo Boutique Hotel Madrid

Madrid itself was wonderful, with great culture and terrific people, and I’d return to the city. I wouldn’t stay at this hotel again. The experience here was stressful and disappointing, despite the hotel’s location being good and the area fairly quiet. The main problem was bed bugs. My partner woke up in the middle of the night with itchy bites, and we saw one fall onto the bed. We photographed it and what looked like existing blood stains on the sheets. We later found more than four bugs tucked into the seams of the mattress frame, including after flipping the frame when we went back to collect our luggage. We also caught one in a glass. My partner was bitten seven or eight times. The first front desk clerk gave us a new room and said they’d investigate in the morning. But when we asked Yosef on the day shift, he said they’d found nothing and insisted it wasn’t a bed bug. We checked images online and even uploaded ours to AI, but he kept disputing what we’d seen. He said the bug was too big, though the photo was zoomed in, and suggested it was a tree bug. He also suggested we might have brought it in ourselves, in a condescending way, and told us we could pack up and go elsewhere if we had a problem. It felt as though we were being treated differently because we were Americans, though I understand that may not have been the case. When my partner translated Yosef’s denial to me, I asked aloud if he wasn’t believing it was a bed bug. He moved us to the breakfast area so others wouldn’t hear. After breakfast, he suggested we put our luggage on the beds in the new room to see if bugs came out. We thought that was ridiculous and didn’t try it, since it could have let them get into our bags. When we returned with more evidence, he panicked, took insecticide, and came back to the room with us. Seeing the bugs seemed to make him realize they were bed bugs and the hotel had let the infestation get this far. He sprayed our luggage wheels. He never apologized for the denial or unprofessional handling. The hotel did wash our clothes and let us stay in the new room, but there was a lot of stressful, unproductive back and forth. At one point he wanted us to return to the original room and said they’d change its sheets, but they changed the sheets in the new room instead. I’m usually forgiving, but this was a ridiculous experience. I wanted to move on and enjoy the rest of our holiday, so I didn’t look into what legal options might exist in Spain or the EU.

The staff were courteous and professional, which helped make the stay pleasant. Boutique Leonardo Hotel Madrid is in a very central spot for exploring the city, though the building itself feels a little old.

The room terrace was excellent, and breakfast was exceptional. The room was spotless, and the staff were very friendly. Staying here was a real pleasure, and you helped make our holiday. Many thanks.

The location was alright, but the noise was awful, coming from both outside and inside the hotel even though I was on the fifth floor. Bring earplugs if you decide to stay, and don’t leave valuables in the room. I accidentally left some belongings behind when I went to work one morning. By the time I returned, housekeeping had cleaned the room and my wallet too. I trusted the hotel with my things, and that trust was broken. Reception more or less shrugged when I reported it. It’s hard to prove theft, but the whole thing was infuriating.