Gran Hotel Inglés

Once the neighborhood of Miguel Cervantes and other titans of Spanish letters, Madrid’s Barrio de las Letras is also home of Gran Hotel Inglés, the city’s oldest luxury hotel, welcoming guests since 1886. It’s unassumingly tucked away on the narrow, brick-laid Calle de Echegaray, and in its modern incarnation it styles itself an urban oasis — hence the Sisley spa. The interiors, by New York’s Rockwell Group, pay tribute to the Art Deco era, with brass accents, geometric ornaments, and rich, dark hardwood floors, along with custom textiles, lamps, and furniture. The glamorous lobby bar, with sleek leather stools arranged around a circular marble counter and a dramatically illuminated liquor shelf suspended from the ceiling like an art installation, makes a striking first impression — and in a concession to the steady stream of madrileños passing through for drinks, there’s plenty of space nearby to relax with a gin and tonic on a Chesterfield sofa or a velvet armchair.

Rooms are similarly elegant with parquet floors and a 1920s-inspired white, bronze, and silver color scheme. Charming details evoke days gone by: decorative wall panels, tufted headboards, vintage valet stands, champagne flutes, and clawfoot tubs in upgraded rooms. The quietest quarters face the inner courtyard, though there's an undeniable appeal to those with small balconies looking out over the street. One upper-level suite is both palatial and garret-like, with steeply slanted ceilings and a private terrace with a Jacuzzi, and the penthouse suite has a formal dining room and a fully stocked bar. For everyone else, there are the many bars and restaurants of Barrio de las Letras just steps away. The neighborhood is a culinary destination, and the hotel is part of the scene, offering forward-thinking Iberian cuisine at the stylish Lobo 8.