The Principal Madrid

The Spanish hotelier Pau Guardans believes that hotels should function as “engines of local communities,” a concept that guided the look and feel of his first two hotels — the Único in Madrid and the 1920s-style Grand Hotel Central in Barcelona. With his latest project, the Principal, he’s reinvigorated another grand old building, this one a Spanish Renaissance-style jewel located on a prominent corner of Madrid’s Gran Vía, adapting its spacious interiors for modern living.

The stately structure retains many of its original Art Deco and Art Nouveau architectural details. The soaring ceilings, arched doorways, iron railings, and decorative stonework, dating from 1917, serve as an elegant framework for the modern interiors by Pilar Garcia-Nieto and Luzio, a Barcelona design firm. Done in a cool, subdued color palette of slate gray, camel, white and chocolate brown, the place looks perhaps more New York than Madrid. But it’s not overly formal: a recurring design piece found throughout the hotel, even beneath a wall of old-fashioned oil portraits in gilded frames, is the BKF butterfly chair. 76 guest rooms and suites have a little less character than the glamorous lobby, but amenities are plentiful. Walk-in showers, Bluetooth sound systems, free wi-fi and complimentary tea come standard; Deluxe rooms feature lovely views over the boulevard. Suites, of course, have everything from reading nooks to private butlers.

The rooftop terrace bar, dotted with olive trees, is the perfect place to watch the sun go down, cocktail in hand, amid a small crowd of fashionable madrileños who’ve dropped by for a drink after work.