Spain | Brach Madrid in Madrid

| Brach Madrid. Staying anywhere on Madrid's Gran Vía is a treat, but the newly opened five-star Brach Madrid takes the luxury experience to a whole new level. Designed by Philippe Starck, the hotel itself is a time-traveling drama. The building itself has stood on this legendary street since 1922. Originally, the ground floor was a popular fashion café and lounge, while the upper floors housed a number of designer studios. These historical textures provided Starck with a wonderful creative blueprint. He cleverly drew on the building's original style and functional genes, injecting a modern soul into its century-old bones. Stepping into the hotel, the Parisian-style dessert workshop behind the panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows awakens the senses, and the aroma of freshly baked croissants wafts through the lobby paved with traditional terracotta bricks. The restaurant recreates the elegant atmosphere of Madrid's Golden Age cafes, but adds a contemporary rhythm with a transparent open kitchen; the green rooftop terrace captures the romantic skyline, and the outlines of the Art Deco facades are like solidified movements in the twilight. The rooms and suites continue Starck's signature dramatic tension: ambiguous lighting casts shadows on the deep red walls, herringbone wood floors and leather-upholstered headboards create a textured symphony, mixed-and-matched design collections hide visual surprises, and the palatial bathroom space takes the sense of ritual to the extreme.