Only YOU Hotel Atocha

If you’ve traveled all the way to Madrid, it might seem like an unusual decision to stay in a hotel that models itself after its counterparts in New York. But stay with us on this, because Only YOU Hotel Atocha is an inspired mix of the best of the old world and new. New York might serve as inspiration, but this hotel doesn’t ignore its heritage or its prime location in central Madrid. Catalan designer Lázaro Rosa Violan has taken a historic 19th-century building, just steps from the city’s beloved green lung, Retiro Park, and fashioned it into a 21st-century interior design gem.

Sure, there’s the exposed brick, black-and-white accents, and industrial trimmings that contemporary New York design standards demand, but the brilliant splashes of color throughout the hotel — bright blues, yellows, reds — those are Spanish. The rooms are designed in a warmer palette, with plenty of natural light, excellent views, and, in many of the rooms, balconies that face onto this lively corner of the city. You don’t have to worry about noise, though — interior walls are soundproofed and street noise is minimal. New Yorkers would pay top dollar to rent to rent these rooms if they were apartments back home.

The idea of fusion extends beyond design to the kitchen, too. Stop by Trotamundos Restaurant to eat your way through a “journey from Latin America to Asia and passing through Spain,” as the chefs — well-known here in Spain — describe it. Or head to the seventh floor for breakfast or drinks on the terrace, looking out at the hustle and bustle of Atocha train station, the city’s gateway to southern Spain. But if hustle and bustle isn’t what you’re looking for on this trip, Only YOU has your needs covered too: There’s a “relaxarium” on the first floor. And that’s something any New York hotel would love to have.