Mas Salagros EcoResort & SPA

You don’t want to choose between lively Barcelona and a quaint Spanish hacienda in the countryside, the kind where the trees grow thick with olives and the wine never runs out. We wouldn’t want to choose, either. Luckily, there are a few magical getaways that straddle the border between the two. Hotel Mas Salagros Ecoresort & Aire Ancient Baths, located just twenty minutes’ drive up the coast from the Catalonian capital, is one of these.

Though located on the grounds of a 15th-century farm, Mas Salagros is brand-new. Even in a landscape so celebrated for its history, there are advantages to starting from scratch. Here’s an important one: unlike so many hotels that claim the name “eco-resort” by making a few token gestures toward environmental consciousness, this is the real deal. Mas Salagros was built with sustainable materials, and the buildings were designed to save energy. The hotel is equipped with eco-friendly textiles and bath products; the furnishings are made partly with found or recycled objects, and the kitchen employs products grown on the old farm.

Impressively, the designers didn’t sacrifice style in the process. These 54 guest rooms and suites are modern and down-to-earth. Yes, that’s an antique wooden door refashioned as a headboard. And of course the sheets are organic cotton. There’s nothing fussy or precious here. Mas Salagros is cool and relaxed, as if it were designed for city dwellers — the kind who already shop for fair trade coffee, then compost the grounds — who need a breath of fresh air. Did we mention there’s a thermal bath circuit? Elegant in design, it’s just the place to float around and forget the outside world before retiring to Gastronomic Restaurant 1497 for an organic charcuterie platter and a few glasses of organic oak-aged wine — locally produced, of course. Warm up to a full dinner at La Granja Salagros with an all-day menu of small plates and potables. There’s also a lake, and a swimming pool, should the mood strike.

But if the quiet of the countryside starts to wear on you, the diversions of Barcelona are just a hop, skip and a jump away. The hotel knows you need a night on the town sometimes: they provide free transfers four times a day. Best of both worlds, as they say.