Europe is not suffering from a shortage of tasteful new hotels, but the new Brach Madrid—a Philippe Starck–designed hotel in the middle of the city’s Grand Via—is distinguished by its personality. Graffiti is scratched into the corners of walls, which are decorated with maps, old photographs, books, and watercolors.The hotel sits inside a seven-story building with a dazzling white stone façade that was built between 1919 and 1922 by architect Jerónimo Pedro Mathet Rodriguez. Stepping through the doorway, visitors are greeted by uniformed staff, who promptly spring to attention and point the way to the hotel’s bar, restaurant, and pâtisserie. Dinner at the restaurant is not to be missed. Start with a Brach martini, which pairs Gin Mare with Manzanilla sherry rather than vermouth. Finish with a soft murmur of the local saying “De Madrid al cielo”—from Madrid, next stop heaven. —Mary Lussiana