TÓTEM Madrid

TÓTEM Madrid is located at a moneyed address, in a grand corner building in the stylish neighborhood of Salamanca. Inside you’ll find old-world elegance and fine materials from oak to marble, a sleek modern edge, and an air of exclusivity, as if you were stepping into a swish members-only club.

Indeed, when it comes to functionality, TÓTEM hits all the right notes. (The team behind it, headed up by the noted hotelier Pablo Carrington, has had plenty of practice reworking a neoclassical interior for the modern traveler: TÓTEM is their follow-up to Urso Hotel & Spa, one of the loveliest hotels in Madrid.) Downstairs, the color palette is dark and moody — think wood paneling, mid-century furniture, low lighting, leather and crushed velvet — and upstairs, the look is bright and airy.

The designers get it, in other words. When you’re staying in a city like Madrid, you want a hotel with a cool cocktail bar, one that attracts as many locals as guests. But when it’s time to retire for the evening, you want a quiet refuge. And that’s exactly what you get at TÓTEM: guest rooms are smartly outfitted with parquet floors, the bathrooms in black marble and porcelain tile. Standard amenities include flat-screen TVs, Nespresso machines, free wi-fi, rain showers, and bath products by local brand Per Purr. Many deluxe rooms and suites have floor-to-ceiling windows and private balconies, too.

Central Madrid is walkable: linger over another café con leche at breakfast, because you won’t have to stroll far to reach many of the city’s key attractions. One of the best things about TÓTEM is the pleasure of returning to it after a day of shopping and museum-going — especially the restaurant, La Parrilla del Pimiento Verde, with its traditional Spanish cuisine.