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The hotel's address is 8 Calle de Velázquez, in Salamanca. Puerta de Alcalá, the stone gateway, is a landmark in its own right; El Retiro is the park nearby. Use the gate as a point of reference, then give the park some time of its own. Its paths and gardens make for a different walk from the one along the streets of Salamanca.

It is a useful address if the trip mixes business and time off. You can keep plans in Salamanca together and set aside a separate stretch for the Art Walk. Retiro and Velázquez metro stations give you options when the rest of the day's plans take you beyond the neighbourhood.

The building dates from 1952 and is listed. The hotel still has the range of spaces you might expect of an established city address. The Hall gives you somewhere to meet a friend in the neighbourhood, and the function rooms bring occasions of a different scale into the same building. That social side of the Wellington is part of its character.

The Superior room draws on 1950s French decor and has a bathroom finished in marble and quartz. It is a small but telling detail: the rooms can refer to the building's era without all looking alike. The suite range includes both classically furnished rooms and more contemporary interiors. The building's date tells you something about the hotel, but it needn't dictate which room you choose.

For a room with a clear sense of where you are, look for the Superior room city view. Its windows face Calle de Velázquez. The Superior room with terrace has a private balcony overlooking the pool. Those names are worth reading closely: a street outlook and an outdoor place to sit are two different reasons to select a category.

The Wellington Club appears in the names of particular categories, including the Superior room The Wellington Club. For more room to spread out, the Two bedroom suite The Wellington Club has two bathrooms as well as a separate living area. That layout can matter on a longer trip, when the space where you talk or read needn't be the same space where someone else is trying to sleep.

The Junior suite skyline with terrace The Wellington Club looks out over Salamanca's rooftops. Choose that category for the outlook and terrace rather than assuming that either comes with every club-level room.

Le Max Wellness Club Wellington is the hotel's fitness and spa facility, separate from The Wellington Club room categories. The gym has cardio equipment and free weights, so you can keep a familiar workout in the schedule. The indoor spa has a hydrotherapy pool, a sauna and a hammam, along with a whirlpool and a cold plunge. Le Max also has treatment rooms for facials and body treatments.

The hotel's outdoor pool is a separate, seasonal feature. It is the one to have in mind when you picture time outside between plans in the city; the indoor pool belongs to the spa circuit. If swimming outdoors matters to the trip, check the pool's dates before settling on yours.

Ricardo Sanz Wellington brings Japanese and Mediterranean cooking together. At the sushi counter, you can watch the chef work. The restaurant's drinks lists include sake, wine and tea. The counter is worth considering if you are as interested in seeing the food prepared as in what arrives on the plate.

The hotel's Sunday brunch is a separate offering. It makes sense as an occasion in its own right, especially if you are meeting friends in Madrid and would rather give the gathering a place in the itinerary than fit it in between sights.

The Hall serves food and cocktails, and the English Bar takes its cue from a British pub. The hotel's poolside Terrace is a summer setting. These are distinct settings within the Wellington: a table outside has a different appeal from a seat in the Hall, particularly if much of your day has been spent indoors.

The Wellington has function rooms with natural light for meetings, conventions, banquets and press conferences. The Madrid Convention Bureau lists rooms including Duque de Wellington and Cibeles. For a private celebration with people coming in from out of town, holding the event at the hotel gives those staying there a familiar place to meet before everyone goes their own way again.

The address helps here, too. Attending an event need not mean giving over the whole visit to its schedule. A guest with time between commitments can make for El Retiro; someone staying on after the gathering has the museums of the Paseo del Prado to build a day around.

Start with the lake in El Retiro if you are visiting the park for the first time. The Monument to Alfonso XII looks across the water, and the rose garden gives you a reason to carry on beyond the lake.

On a museum day, the Prado and the Thyssen-Bornemisza are both in the wider Paseo del Prado area. One collection and a walk can make a more satisfying plan than trying to see both museums in a single outing. Keep Cibeles in mind if you are exploring on foot. The palace there is another landmark in the area, and a useful point to aim for when you want to see something of Madrid beyond the galleries.

The Wellington makes particular sense when people sharing a trip want different things from Madrid. One may have a morning at the Prado in mind, another time for the gym, and both can meet back in Salamanca without organising the whole day around each other. On a short visit it is tempting to give every outing a destination. By the second day here, you may find yourself taking the long way back to Calle de Velázquez simply to pass the lake again.