Creative Outlet

Creative Outlet: Madrid

The 19th-century streets of surrounding Salamanca are packed with fine dining restaurants, galleries displaying the likes of Goya, and designer boutiques. Platea Madrid, the city’s gourmet food market, is the perfect place to stock up, returning to your peaceful abode with fresh, local produce. The sleek, black kitchen has plenty of space courtesy of an island and granite-topped counters. Serve your Spanish feast at the dining table, tucked into an alcove and put some mood music on the vintage record player. An open-air balcony provides an alfresco spot for an aperitif and a second, enclosed balcony acts as a mini-solarium with a nest chair. If you need to get some work done there’s an office nestled amidst walls of bookshelves, perhaps inspiring some creativity after hitting the world-famous galleries and museums of Madrid (the Prado is a twenty-minute walk).

Home truths:
* The second bedroom has a pull-out double sofa bed rather than a permanent bed
* The balconies are a bonus, but are each only big enough for one chair, so it's not a social space
*There is only air conditioning in some rooms
*Because of the location, some city noise should be expected – light sleepers might want to bring earplugs just in case