Similarly anti-chic to East Berlin’s gritty and creative Michelberger Hotel, Barcelona’s Hotel Acta Mimic shares an unpolished vibrancy with its local surroundings, the infamously seedy, yet decidedly creative, El Raval district.

Once home to the likes of Picasso and home today to the MACBA contemporary art gallery, along with an increasing number of arty types seeking out the city’s cheaper spaces, the barrio’s creative, edgy vibe is perfectly captured by the Acta Mimic’s expressive design, delivered with the unique flair of local architects EQUIP Xavier Claramunt. The playful graphic façades give way to a splendidly retrotastic lobby with exposed concrete, bold colours and 70s-style furnishings that in turn gives way to the more minimal, and decidedly functional rooms.

Yet by pushing the shower towards the window and framing it with glass, the architects have achieved a light, airy feeling that is so seldom found in tightly packed, budget hotel rooms. El Raval’s Hotel Acta Mimic will now doubt have words such as hip, funky, trendy and cool thrown at it in abundance, yes it’s all of those things, but for us it’s another great example of a hotel that offers something offbeat and inventive for travellers who really want to get under the skin of the places they visit…