Class: Deluxe
Style: Cutting edge
Rooms: 98
Eixample
Mandarin Oriental has stepped away from wenge wood and brocade to embrace local talent for its new hotel in Barcelona's modernista-studded Quadrat d'Or. Barcelona architects Carlos Ferrater and Joan Trias de Bes took on the structure - a former bank - and Asturias-born Patricia Urquiola made over the interior. A custom-designed Tai Ping carpet leads to the lobby, which opens onto a gallery overlooking the vast sunken lounge and Blanc restaurant. Previously a trading floor, it is now partially caged by Urquiola's lattice screens and punctuated by hanging baskets moulded from her B&B Italia 'Fat Fat-Lady Fat' tables. Throughout the 98-room hotel, her furniture is mixed with vintage and custom pieces and work by locals, such as lighting by Javier Marset. Luxury abounds in the rooms, with oversized Bisazza and Mutina glass-tiled showers, oak floors and cosy rugs. Carme Ruscadella, a five-starred chef known for Catalan cuisine, directs proceedings at Moments restaurant.