URSO Hotel & Spa Madrid

Madrid’s got luxe old grand hotels, and it’s got striking modern boutique hotels. And in Urso Hotel & Spa, it’s got a bit of both. Set in a stately early 20th-century palace, Urso’s neo-classical architecture complements the modernist oak and marble interiors by Antonio Obrador, the celebrated Spanish designer who was also behind its sister hotel Cap Rocat, a majestic, renovated 19th-century military fortress in Majorca. At the center of the city, sandwiched between the residential neighborhood Chamberi and the trendy Chueca district, URSO is surrounded by embassy buildings, local cafés, upscale boutiques, and the new Barceló food market, which delivers the hotel’s fresh Iberico ham daily.

Thoughtful, design-conscious touches make it clear that URSO is much more than the sum of its (very aesthetically pleasing) parts. Many of the building’s original features — such as an elevator, a grand marble staircase, and a stained-glass windows — were lovingly restored. Even the Chinois wallpaper accenting the lobby is authentic — re-created from wallpaper found in another neighboring palace. Meanwhile, light-filled rooms, airy neutrals, and drum-shaped lampshades will make you feel at home rather than at a museum.

The spa mentioned in URSO’s name deserves equal attention. As Madrid’s first branded luxury hotel spa and an affiliate of Spanish skincare specialist Natura Bissé, it’s worth a trip to sleek, sexy, near-clandestine location in the hotel’s cellar for a lap in the wood-covered pool and steam room — all of which is merely a prelude, should money suddenly be no object, to a facial with Natura Bissé’s signature diamond dust.