The neighborhood of Chamberi, in Madrid, is where you go for things you can’t get anywhere else, which is precisely why Urso, the hotel I stayed at during a recent trip, is located there. The cava and cacao con leche in my room, the potato chips, the sardinas en escabeche at the restaurant—practically everything came from nearby shops.
It was a modus operandi I could have seen myself becoming loyal to. But even though Urso is part of a small hotel group, that group’s brand does not appear on the cocktail napkins or complimentary shampoo; there is no rewards program. The group, which had fastidiously designed and maintained every aspect of the hotel, from the wallpaper to the breakfast menu, wanted no attention at all.
