A red art nouveau villa with turrets has been turned into Hospes Villa Paulita, a boutique hotel with whitewashed walls, exposed beams and brick, chandeliers and a spa in a forest of firs beside a lake in Puigcerda in the Spanish Pyrenees. There are 38 rooms, and in the summer hiking and cycling on the doorstep, skiing and ice skating during winter.

· hospes.com, 0034 972 884 662. From £110 per night per double room only. Travel by train via Toulouse and Latour de Carol to Puigcerda.