NH Collection Madrid Abascal

Many of the most beautiful buildings and most desirable addresses are reserved for the use of foreign embassies and consulates. So when you hear that a onetime embassy has been transformed into a four-star hotel, especially in a city as architecturally stunning as Madrid, well — from the moment you lay eyes on its stately stone facade, the NH Collection Abascal is just what you’d expect.

The building itself, a classic private residence before it was an embassy, is suitably elegant and spacious, with soaring marble pillars, high archways, and decorative wrought-iron staircases. There’s a serious art collection (including an original work by the contemporary Spanish painter Javier Mariscal), featuring foie gras and overseen by a Michelin-starred chef, and a cocktail bar with classic cocktails and Chesterfield sofas.

Upstairs, the building has been thoroughly remodeled, shaped into 183 guest rooms and suites. Save for a few details like parquet flooring and high molded ceilings, they look and feel like rooms you’d find at a good business hotel anywhere in the world: crisp white and earth-toned decor, the NH brand’s signature beds, pillow menus, rain showers, large flat-screen TVs, fast wi-fi. Some of the premium rooms and suites, however, take advantage of the building’s original architecture, offering charming private terraces that look out over the city below.

If you’re in a more standard room, there’s always the open-air terrace bar on the ground level. There's the requisite fitness center, of course, and DOMO, the hotel’s fine-dining venue. Even on a weekday, the picture-perfect breakfast spread is something to linger over before heading out into the city. The NH Collection Abascal is a bit of a stroll from the historic center — befitting its prior status as an embassy, it’s located in the posh barrio of Chamberí — but considering the quantity of hot chocolate and churros you’re likely to indulge in while in Madrid, you’ll be grateful for the walk to the Prado.