Hotel Urso — Madrid, Spain

In a city not exactly bursting with luxury boutique bolt-holes, the Urso Hotel & Spa is a welcome addition to Madrid’s hotel scene. The 78-room property, located in an early-20th-century building at the crossroads of the Spanish capital’s increasingly hip Chueca, Tribunal and Chamberi districts, has maintained its grand neoclassical façade. And despite a contemporary vein running through its interiors, the design, by Spaniard Antonio Obrador, is primarily focused on preserving the building’s history, with restored oak panelling, marble foors and fabric-covered walls featuring heavily. In keeping with the heritage theme, the space has four original early-20th-century stained glass windows, as well as original azulejos tiles adorning the façade and entrance. Obrador also collaborated with artisan carpenters to renew the building’s original lift. A visit to the luxe Urso Spa by Natura Bissé, with its 12m lap pool and oriental steam room, nicely rounds of a busy day in the boardroom or boutiques.