Rosewood Villa Magna – a Castellana palace, remade for Madrid's new era

On Madrid's most coveted boulevard, Paseo de la Castellana, a landmark hotel has reinvented itself twice: first in 1972 as Villa Magna, then again in October 2021, when Rosewood Hotels & Resorts relaunched it as the brand's debut address in Spain. The site has older roots still – it once held the 19th-century Anglada Palace, a history the current building quietly honours in its name-checked suites and its art. Behind the renovated facade sit 154 rooms and suites, a Cantabrian restaurant from an acclaimed northern-Spanish chef, a vermouth-and-gin bar modelled on an English club, and gardens shaded by century-old cedar and carob trees. The MICHELIN Guide gives it Two Keys, and the restaurant Amós carries its own Plate distinction. What makes it matter is the address itself: a short walk from the Golden Triangle of museums and the boutiques of Salamanca, in a building that has mattered to Madrid for half a century.

01The house

Villa Magna's story begins well before 1972. The hotel occupies the former site of the Anglada Palace, a 19th-century residence whose memory the current building keeps alive in details and names across the property. Rosewood Hotel Group and the Mexican group RLH Properties acquired the hotel in 2018 and set about a comprehensive refurbishment before reopening it as Rosewood Villa Magna in October 2021, the brand's first hotel in Spain. The historic property had been a beloved local landmark since it originally opened in 1972, evoking a convivial spirit and charm that captivated visitors from both near and far.

For the relaunch, Spanish architect Ramón de Arana reworked the arrival sequence, adding a sculptural staircase, aged-brass window frames and a pair of reflecting pools, while the Australian firm BAR Studio dressed the rooms and suites to feel like the finest private homes of the Salamanca district. The result is layered with art: more than 400 pieces by 43 international artists are on display through the public spaces, lobby and bar, turning a walk to breakfast into something closer to a small gallery visit.

02Rooms and suites

The hotel counts 154 rooms and suites, a figure that includes five standout signature suites built for the largest terraces in the city. Chief among them are the top-floor penthouses Royal Anglada and Marquis of Salamanca, which feature some of the largest private terraces in the city, with sweeping views over the rooftops of Salamanca and personalised butler service for guests staying in the Royal Anglada house.

Insider tip

Book Amós ahead; the restaurant seats a small room and runs a Wednesday–Thursday sharing menu with Tarde.O.

The smaller gestures carry the same attention. In-room minibars are fitted with an antiqued mercury-glass mirror behind a Carrara-marble shelf, crystal glassware and bottled Solán de Cabras and Vichy Catalán waters, with the house's own Amós-label wine on offer — a deliberate thread tying the bedroom back to the restaurant two floors below.

03Where to eat

The signature restaurant is Amós, run with chef Jesús Sánchez, who draws on the rich flavours of northern Spain and the Cantabrian coast for his cooking here. Sánchez holds three Michelin stars at his flagship restaurant in Cantabria, and in Madrid the MICHELIN Guide recognises Amós with a Plate distinction. The dining room's interior design was led by Madrid-based Alejandra Pombo and takes its cue from a traditional taberna madrileña, the old-town tavern style of the Spanish capital, rather than a conventional hotel restaurant. Tasting and à la carte menus run alongside a weekday Formula Menu built for quicker, still-considered lunches, and on Wednesday and Thursday evenings the kitchen turns to CompartAmós, a sharing format built around some of the restaurant's most iconic dishes.

For all-day eating there is Las Brasas de Castellana, built around an open grill, where breakfast is taken in the light of the hotel's garden courtyard with dishes cooked to order rather than served from a buffet. Flor y Nata, the hotel's patisserie, handles pastries, coffee and afternoon tea, and the kitchens extend into seasonal pop-ups through the year, including a winter ski chalet and a summer outdoor cinema.

04The bar

Tarde.O is the hotel's bar and lounge, built around an extensive list of gins and traditional Spanish vermouths, with a vibrant cocktail bar atmosphere that spills onto a year-round garden terrace. It draws a local Madrid crowd as much as hotel guests, and it is dog-friendly, which lends the room — and its terrace — a looser, more neighbourhood feel than its polished interior might suggest.

05Spa and wellbeing

Wellness runs through Sense, A Rosewood Spa, one of the hotel's quieter draws, offering world-class wellness amenities for relaxation and fitness alongside a state-of-the-art fitness centre. Treatments lean on ingredients and rituals associated with Spain and the Mediterranean, in keeping with Rosewood's Sense concept found across the brand's other properties.

06The neighbourhood

The address does much of the work. The hotel's prestigious position along the tree-lined Paseo de la Castellana puts guests within easy reach of the Golden Triangle of art museums, Retiro Park and the Serrano shopping district. Salamanca itself is Madrid's most polished quarter, a grid of tailors, galleries and family-run bakeries a short walk from the hotel's own gardens.

07Making the most of a stay

The hotel's event spaces, from intimate rooms to the garden, can host gatherings of between 10 and 500 people, which makes it as credible a choice for a Madrid wedding or product launch as for a weekend stay. At Amós, reserve ahead: in October 2026 the restaurant serves lunch Wednesday to Sunday from 1.30pm to 4pm and dinner Wednesday to Saturday from 8.30pm to midnight, with valet parking included for diners.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.