If your thought process about Spain consists of simply weighing Barcelona against Madrid, you’re leaving a lot out — namely Valencia. This is Calatrava’s city, for one thing, and its architectural pedigree goes back much farther, including the Westin, which occupies a grand white palace of a building, dating back to the early days of Modernism, when you could still get a bit of classic ornament mixed in with your clean lines.
It’s changed a bit inside since then, of course, but the interiors still bear traces of this history. The décor is a little bit Deco, a little bit Bauhaus, and a little bit contemporary, while the technology is very much up to date. The wellness center includes a gym, a spa and a therapy pool, and the rooms are state-of-the-art as well: Westin have not just their own trademarked beds, but their own trademarked baths as well, plus a full complement of other high-end amenities, both electronic and traditional.
And though it’s no boutique, neither is it a faceless business hotel. The Westin is, in its slightly conservative way, the standard by which the rest of Valencia’s hotels are judged, for better and for worse — the exception being the high-end suites, which in their lavishness are without parallel anywhere in town.
author watson@mouselink.net, source www.tablethotels.com