6 thoughts on “Hot baths and Hemingway: Forgotten Legendary Hotels from Madrid”
Thanks Brian for this excellent podcast about these two iconic hotels of Spain’s past. I am looking at artifacts of memory that appear in literary work. Apart from Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls, the Gaylord Hotel also appears, although briefly, in Inés y la alegría by writer Almudena Grandes (and probably in works by other authors as well). Although this hotel no longer physically exists, its mention in novels and the media helps to imagine a passage of history which remains blurry even today. So, thanks!
Thank you, Juan Carlos, for your kind words and I’m so happy you enjoyed the podcast. And thank you for information about Grandes’ novel. I’ll have to check it out. These two hotels have become ghosts of Madrid’s past, unfortunately. I never had the chance to see them (let alone, be in them) personally, and even still, I very much miss them. Every once in a while I think about this and it frustrates me! Thanks again for commenting.
what was the street number of Gaylord Hotel in C/ Alfonso XI?
Hi. It was on Calle Alfonso XI, 3, corner of Calle Valenzuela. It’s a modern buidling now. A few years ago it was looking rundown, but it’s been spruced up is home to a consulting firm called MIO Group. When I first tried to locate it, I wasn’t 100% sure if that was it, but in an old photograph of the Gaylord you can get a partial view of the building next to it, which is still standing.
Thanks Brian, just heard your very interesting podcast on the Madrid hotels Florida y Gaylord’s. You mention that the Gaylord’s was HQ of the German military intelligence from 1939 to 1945.
My father served as a Luftwaffe soldier (not in uniforms but in civil clothes ) in Madrid from 1942 to 1945. He was active in Radio-intelligence, i.e. he intercepted and scanned allied radio communication i.a. in order to find out planned moves or attack targets in Germany for the allied bomber fleet.
That is why my question: Do you have more historical information on that subject? Or do you know sources who could have such info?
Sincerely
Arwed Exner
Thank you so much for your kind words. Glad you enjoyed the podcast. As for your questions, unfortunately I don’t have any information on the subject you mention (though it certainly sounds like an interesting one!). Nor can I think of any sources off the top of my head that might help. But I’ll give it some thought and reach out to you if I find anything!
Thanks Brian for this excellent podcast about these two iconic hotels of Spain’s past. I am looking at artifacts of memory that appear in literary work. Apart from Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls, the Gaylord Hotel also appears, although briefly, in Inés y la alegría by writer Almudena Grandes (and probably in works by other authors as well). Although this hotel no longer physically exists, its mention in novels and the media helps to imagine a passage of history which remains blurry even today. So, thanks!
Thank you, Juan Carlos, for your kind words and I’m so happy you enjoyed the podcast. And thank you for information about Grandes’ novel. I’ll have to check it out. These two hotels have become ghosts of Madrid’s past, unfortunately. I never had the chance to see them (let alone, be in them) personally, and even still, I very much miss them. Every once in a while I think about this and it frustrates me! Thanks again for commenting.
what was the street number of Gaylord Hotel in C/ Alfonso XI?
Hi. It was on Calle Alfonso XI, 3, corner of Calle Valenzuela. It’s a modern buidling now. A few years ago it was looking rundown, but it’s been spruced up is home to a consulting firm called MIO Group. When I first tried to locate it, I wasn’t 100% sure if that was it, but in an old photograph of the Gaylord you can get a partial view of the building next to it, which is still standing.
Thanks Brian, just heard your very interesting podcast on the Madrid hotels Florida y Gaylord’s. You mention that the Gaylord’s was HQ of the German military intelligence from 1939 to 1945.
My father served as a Luftwaffe soldier (not in uniforms but in civil clothes ) in Madrid from 1942 to 1945. He was active in Radio-intelligence, i.e. he intercepted and scanned allied radio communication i.a. in order to find out planned moves or attack targets in Germany for the allied bomber fleet.
That is why my question: Do you have more historical information on that subject? Or do you know sources who could have such info?
Sincerely
Arwed Exner
Thank you so much for your kind words. Glad you enjoyed the podcast. As for your questions, unfortunately I don’t have any information on the subject you mention (though it certainly sounds like an interesting one!). Nor can I think of any sources off the top of my head that might help. But I’ll give it some thought and reach out to you if I find anything!