PROs: Great location, walkable to most tourist spots

CONs: Small room, spotty internet, poor breakfast selection

The Emperador (Madrid) is in a great location. Very close to shops and a short walk to Puerta del Sol and Plaza Mayor (although this is a very walkable city regardless of hotel location). Good value for the price; however, there are trade-offs (see food comment).

Lobby
Small-ish lobby; the staff were generally friendly and helpful. Very small gift shop and a bar. Conference rooms on the 2 second and 'basement' floors (although the conference rooms on the bottom are windowless). The conference room was fairly poor as they had large posts in the middle room.

Room
Room was small but average per European standards. Bathroom was average size. Internet was spotty (24-hour purchase) and somewhat unreliable. I had a room facing the Royal Palace (away from street) so the street-noise was minimal. The Royal Palace lights can be bright but they turn off at around midnight. Furniture is modern.

Food
The breakfast buffet was very disappointing. They had a limited selection of cold/hot food and baked goods. There was an omlet stand; however, it appeared that you needed a special ticket for this (which was not obvious). In addition, the omlet chef was not always present to cook the omlet. Breakfast is definitely not this hotel's strong suit. Nevertheless, there are plenty of shops near the hotel.

Surroundings
Plenty of food and shopping are nearby. Very close to Sol, Mayor, and Plaza. A bit of a wak if you are going to Prado or the Park.

Room was quite adequate, enough space etc..not luxury but just fine for me. The gym ? ... rubbish. Highlights: Staff..very very good! Location: Excelllent: Roof top pool, again not luxury but a very nice feature with cool views and comfortable loungers. This is not a luxury hotel, but staff and pool make it above average. I will stay here again if less than 80 euro a night! BoyI am getting mean.

Spent 3 days in Madrid. Wanted a location that we could walk or take public transportation from. This fits the bill. Found it difficult in Madrid to find that many people that wanted to talk to English speakers. Hotel inclueded. Breakfast was ample, room was of standard size
with all the ammenities. All and all it was a pleasant stay.

Stayed three nights in November at the Hotel Emperador. We stayed in one of the suites on the sixth floor, with fantastic views of the Grand Via. The suite was well furnished, maybe some old furniture. In need of upgrading. The beds were very comfortable.
Service at hotel was not so good. We had booked a romantic weekend packages, cava in the room. But there was no cava when we got to the room and we had no information about this when we checked in. When we asked the front desk so they said that cava comes in the room at 19.00. Strangely, there are perhaps people who want cava at a different time. We received no information about where Emperador club existed. All in all, bad information at check-in. The guys in the lobby bar was more interested in talking to each other than to serve the guests.

Cleaning the room was excellent, a tribute to the cleaning lady.

The hotel had a very good location and it was close to everything.
So besides the poor service we were the top happy and are prepared to stay here again.