ARCHITECTURE / INTERIOR DESIGN

Cristina Gabás

Interior designer Cristina Gabás has taken the historical class of this 18th-century palace in the oldest part of Barcelona and enriched it with dazzling modern luxury befitting its location nestled between the cathedral and Sant Jaume Square.

Antiques from the building’s original epoch have been masterfully combined by Gabás with lushly rough furnishings to create a wholly contemporary but extremely luxurious style. An exclusive location, Design Hotel 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, candles, and jasmine and orange blossom trees on the roof terrace. The terrace follows the dictates of feng shui, combining the five elements of equilibrium. Time stands still in the library of Neri H&R, where the original wainscoting has been preserved and novels set in Barcelona take you deeper into the city.

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 hotel, you can simply commission a bespoke piece especially made for your own home.