Boutique Design | boutiquedesign.com

(September / October 2011) posted on Wed Oct 05, 2011

Living Up to Its Name: At Madrid’s Hotel Único, Maria José Cabré created a distinct design that makes this boutique worthy of its “unique” moniker.

By Megan Krause

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In 2009, Grupo Rayet converted a 19th century mansion in Madrid’s fashionable Salamanca district into the Hotel Selenza, whose interiors fused such classical elements as baroque candelabras and marble floors with contemporary touches like modern art installations and Lucite desk chairs. The Hotel Selenza was subsequently sold to luxury hotelier Pau Guardans, who also runs the Grand Hotel Central in Barcelona and the Hotel Miró in Bilbao.

Guardans, in turn, changed the name of the property to the Hotel Único (Spanish for “unique”) and hired designer Maria José Cabré to fine-tune its interiors. The goal of that makeover was to turn the 44-key locale into “a cozy, modern boutique, with a warm environment that didn’t feel overcrowded,” says Cabré, who previously designed the Ávalon restaurant for Guardans’ Grand Hotel Central.

As is often the case, that design goal was easier said than done. “My mission was difficult because I didn’t feel comfortable at all with the past design because it was a mixture of very strong and different styles,” says Cabré. “I didn’t have much time nor budget. Therefore, I had to use efficient resources to change its character radically.”

With only four months to work, Cabré decided to mix and match some carefully selected existing features with her own motifs to give Hotel Único a fresh look. Cabré’s touches included installing a color palette of gray, stone and ecru and bringing linen, velvet, silk and flannel textiles into the public spaces and guest rooms. She also incorporated the building’s original marble mosaic floors, along with two elements that were part of the Hotel Selenza’s design: a soaring modern art installation by Spanish artist Jacinto Moros in the main stairwell and built-in wood headboards in the guest rooms.

Cabré updated the lighting scheme throughout the hotel by pairing indirect lighting with suspension and table lamps, including Jaime Hayon’s Josephine lamps and Miguel Mila’s Estadio hall lights. The mix of fixtures allowed Cabré to control the light intensity and color in the spaces, she says.

Public areas comprise the first two floors of the six-story hotel, and include a library, along with the outdoor courtyard that was updated with low couches, sofas and a bar, all by Patricia Urquiola. The hotel’s other amenities include the Ramón Freixa Madrid restaurant (a holdover from the locale’s Hotel Selenza era that was designed by Manolo Melón and has two Michelin stars), meeting rooms, a lounge area and a fitness center and wellness suite.

Most of the guest rooms and suites are characterized by high ceilings, wood floors and black and ecru textured wallpaper. However, the rooms on the top floor are saddled with slanted ceilings that give them an “attic feeling,” Cabré says. To endow those spaces with an airier feel, Cabré installed skylights. She also stationed low benches with pillows in the areas where the ceiling dips.

Cabré says that the Hotel Único was already blessed with a location, architecture and proportions worthy of its name. “The major challenge, for me, was to give the hotel a character that would fit with the building’s spirit, location and scale, so as to maximize its potential,” she says.