Quirky is an understatement at 5-star Silken Puerta America Madrid. The building’s exterior resembles a rainbow-colored high-rise that’s been tethered to the ground and punctuated with windows. Add in the poem scrawled across the façade — taken from Paul Eluard’s poem Freedom — and nothing you encounter inside should come as a surprise.

Guests check in and select their room from images on an iPad. A different leading architect or design studio created each floor in the 12-story hotel. Their edict: Challenge guests’ senses. The experience begins as soon as the elevator opens to each floor. The 12th floor Jean Nouvel suites are a visual feast of luminous, back-lit art installations that cover the ceilings and walls; Norman Foster’s second floor features soothing minimalist marble, wood and glass; and the 11th floor, designed by Javier Mariscal and Fernando Salas, is a through-the-looking-glass experience of pattern, color and texture.

The undulating surfaces of the Space Club rooms on the floor designed by Zaha Hadid have garnered special attention for their stark palates of either black or white, augmented with color-changing Vortexx lighting elements. Rather than call for breakfast or hang a Do Not Disturb sign, an LED display on the outside of your door alerts staff know of guests’ needs and wishes. Unique design features continue in the Christian Liaigre-designed Restaurant Lagrimas Negras, with its menu of creative fare inspired by traditional Spanish cuisine and the rooftop Skynight Bar bears the eclectic stamp of Jean Nouvel.

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