Review of Room Mate Oscar, by Isabel Clift

Entering Madrid's Room Mate Oscar is a bit like stepping inside an iPod, with sexy/functional interiors, sleek surfaces, smooth lines and bold block colours. Here, corporate cool is balanced against youthful quirkiness: straight-laced folk beware.

The restaurant, Gift, serves fashion-friendly Spanish cuisine over two floors. Food has substance as well as style, with a desert menu pulling off the minor miracle of being indulgent and light on the stomach (try the chocolate mousse if you don't believe us).

For lunch, a kind of 'greatest hits' of Modern Spanish cuisine is on parade, with a seasonal set menu, tapas and a la carte options all blissfully well done. Come back in the evening for a cocktail at the curvy bar.

Gift's black-walled upper floor makes for an edgy breakfast room. Black and silver floors, pink lights and white geometric ceiling and wall panels give it a clubby, techno-cave feel; the buffet is served - very reasonably - until noon.

Room Mate Oscar's 75 rooms are predominantly white, with clean-lined contemporary furniture and funky design flourishes. Our standard room was lit by row of oversized light bulbs, suspended behind a huge two-way mirror panel at the head of the bed. In Deluxe Rooms and Junior Suites, colour schemes swing to fabulously fashion-conscious oranges or lime greens on white, and some Suites have balconies overlooking the Plaza.

Full-on tastes are well satisfied here, but design never gets in the way of accessibility: comfy white beds, spacey work desks and wardrobes, LCD TVs and free Wi-Fi will be everyone's cup of tea. Bathrooms are minimalist and spacious, with a subtly sharp aesthetic - our shower head resembled a silver remote control.