The Gran Vía is without a doubt Madrid’s most famous street, one of the main arteries of the Spanish capital. Built at the beginning of the 20th century by the will of Alfonso XIII, it houses some of the city’s most beautiful buildings. Among them, at the corner with Calle de Alcalá, stands the famous Metropolis: born in 1911, the beauty of its interiors has remained reserved for the few fortunate employees who worked in the building for more than a century.
From January 2026, however, the story of the Metropolis takes a new course. For the first time since its inauguration, it will finally open its doors to the public (and to tourists) with restaurants, a club and a hotel.
The Famous Metropolis Among the Year’s Most Anticipated Openings
Anyone who has been to Madrid knows it well: the Metropolis façade fully embodies the grandeur and splendor that characterizes Gran Vía. Until now, however, we have always had to content ourselves with photographing only its exterior, leaving the majesty of its interiors to the imagination. From January 21, 2026, finally, its doors will be open to everyone.
After several years of renovation work, the building has been converted into a luxury boutique hotel with a spa, a private club, and several dining venues. Cornices, moldings and sculptures have been cleaned and restored; elements added in decades of later uses have been removed; the unmistakable silhouette of the dome crowned by the winged figure has been preserved. The monumental access staircase from Calle de Alcalá has also been rehabilitated, which will return to being one of the entrance’s distinctive features.
Also the terrace and the dome, previously invisible to the general public, are destined to become another of the city’s attractions. The Special Plan allows their recreational use related to the hotel, and the intervention has integrated vegetation, lightweight railings and paths that will make it possible to gaze out onto one of Madrid’s most coveted panoramic views.
An Exclusive Boutique Hotel
To create the hotel, a vision of selective luxury and counter-current thinking was adopted. The choice is for a boutique hotel with no concessions to quantity: only 19 rooms, all of the highest caliber, conceived as private refuges where comfort, design and tailored service come together to create a deeply intimate experience, right in the heart of Madrid. Each space is designed to dialogue with the building’s historic soul, reinterpreting it in a contemporary key through refined materials, elegant architectural solutions, and an almost maniacal attention to detail.
In the “belly” of the palace, an exclusive spa takes shape, deliberately hidden from the gaze of passersby: a sanctuary of well-being that unfolds as a quiet and intimate oasis, dedicated to guests’ relaxation and regeneration. To complete the experience, an articulated network of gastronomic spaces has been designed to tell Madrid’s culinary panorama.
The beating heart of the entire project is the Club Metropolis, conceived as an authentic private members club, with a calendar that surpasses 200 events per year. Art exhibitions, live performances, cultural appointments and gastronomic experiences will transform the building into an exclusive meeting point, capable of attracting both the local community and an international clientele.
Finally, there will also be the panoramic terrace that will offer one of the capital’s most evocative views, from Puerta del Sol to the Cibeles Fountain.
