Novotel Madrid Campo De Las Naciones Hotel

A pleasent enough hotel, clean and modern with friendly English speaking reception staff

We had booked our party of seven for two nights of the 18 & 19th august 2011 and all was well until breakfast time on the day we were leaving.

We were all sitting on a long table for the breakfast buffet which included a good selection of foods with a number of us at the table, whilst others were selecting what they would like to eat. My wife is alwas very careful with her bag and as she either has an arm through it at meal times or leans back against the strap and chair. Finishing up she tuned to collect her bag and found it missing. We went immediatly to the reception and they very promptly called the police who were with us in less than five minutes, one officer going to the breakfast area and another two with us. They told us they were in the area and when getting the call, had serched the bushes outside for any sign of the bag or indeed likley thieves.

Clearly in the three minutes from discovering the bag was missing, it was long gone and if nothing else I could only be impressed by the audacity of the theft, as not only did they take the bag from the chair she was sitting on, but other members of the family were facing her the whole time. In addition the only way out was past a breakfast receptionist or through the kitchens.

Obviouly other than spending an hour with the cops in the hotel who amazingly took the matter seriously, nothing further happened and luckily only three hundred dollar was in the bag with numerous personal items plus credit cards which the hotel helped cancel with our Canadian card providers, but passports etc were still in the room safe.

We understand this was not the first time this hotel was targetted and one of the major problems is that the entrance to the restuarant is within 20m of the front door so escape is almost guaranteed even if challenged. We noticed they put a security man on the front door after the police had left but clearly this was too late. There is a security camera at the hotel but no one seemed sure if it was on, and in any event, due to privacy matters in Spain, the police could not review the tape until they had official Government permission which presumably may or may not have happened way after we had left the country.

A little disturbing that, other than the front office staff, no one from management showed their heads during the hour we were in reception dealing with the cops, nor contacted us later expressing distress regarding the theft problem at their hotel.



Welcome to Madrid!

Unique Quality: 15 min from Barajas Airport in the Novotal coach

Directions: A 10 min ride from the airport terminal