HOTEL OVERVIEW

Gabás masterfully combined antiques from the building's original epoch with lushly rough furnishings to create a wholly contemporary but extremely luxurious style. An exclusive location, Neri's elegant restaurant and bar lounge has a seductive ambience. Here, even the vases surprisingly match the sheer, crinkled silver metallic fabric that serves as a blind in front of arched floor-to-ceiling windows. The senses are roused by tactile surfaces and also scents from essential oils and candles as well as jasmine and orange blossom trees on the roof terrace. The terrace follows the dictates of feng shui, combining the five elements to achieve a perfect equilibrium. Time stands still in the library, where the original wainscoting has been preserved and novels set in Barcelona take you deeper into the city.

The hotel's spaciousness is the first sign of luxury in the rather cramped Gothic Quarter, but some of the most dazzling elements of the Neri H&R speak of more refined opulence: Gold and silver leaf artworks, rich velvets and iridescent fabrics and the rough grain of quartzite bathrooms offset by the smooth minimalism of Arne Jacobsen fittings. The silvers, reds, blacks and blues of the Renaissance are emphasised on the first floor, a more neutral colour palette has been chosen for the second floor, and gold and green accents highlight the third. Incidentally, if you fall in love with a piece of furniture at the Neri, you can simply commission a bespoke piece especially made for your own home.