Westin Palace Madrid, Spain

We decided that we wanted to be in the thick of things in Madrid and this venerable old hotel can't be beat in that respect. It's literally across the street from both the Prado and the Thyssen-Bornemisza museums and a ten minutes walk from the Plaza Mayor. There are taxis available at the front door any hour of the day or night and a number of restaurants are within walking distance. The hotel was recently refurbished and is meticulously kept up. There's a computer room with half a dozen or so terminals available free of charge to hotel guests. Our room was spacious, nicely furnished with good quality pieces and the bathroom was entirely up to standard. The only negative is that there are unending functions, meetings, conferences and the like so that the lobby and the public rooms tend always to be crowded both at lunch and dinner times and one must often wait in line to ask the concierge a question. The staff all speak at least some English. On balance I'd say the Palace is perhaps at the lower end of the five star category but definitely within it. We were able to get a very favorable rate through Priceline, paying the equivalent of $135 per night. A taxi ride from the airport costs around thirty dollars.
I'd advise against trying to drive yourself, Madrid traffic can be daunting. All in all, a fine place to start or end one's trip through Spain.