People don’t usually think of airports as places of luxury. Many would think that these looming structures are nothing but terminals – places that we walk through and walk past as we travel to faraway lands, where the adventure and the excitement really are.

Today’s airports, however, have been on a quest to reinvent their image and change the way we see them (see Paris CDG's new terminal, above). Top airports from all over the world have undergone renovations to make them seem less of a gate that passengers need to get through, and more of a place they can actually enjoy spending time in. Airport authorities have begun to slowly try to be more affordable for all sorts of travellers, eliminating the reasons why they’ve been given a bad rap in the past.

Thousands of people have complained, for example, about exorbitant parking fees at airports, and the world’s major airports have come to the rescue. Gatwick Airport, which Parking4less explains has both short-stay and long-stay packages that come with convenient perks such as a valet service, has apparently introduced a new parking scheme that saves their customers up to 3% on parking fees.

Gatwick airport has also joined the effort of airports to be more "social"....like this recent instagram campaign that carries the hashtag #TemptedBeforeTakeoff.  

How cute is that?

But that’s not all. Inside the airports themselves, a wealth of treasures unfolds. Restaurants have begun popping up in airports all over the world, transforming airport food into something that rivals the fanciest dinners. Surprisingly (or not so surprisingly), the World’s Finest Airport Food was found to be in Spain’s own Porta Gaig restaurant in Barcelona.

Porta Gaig is owned by Carles Gaig, and this Michelin-starred restaurant serves a wonderful array of classically Catalan dishes. The restaurant’s interior design is by architect Richard Bofill, a Spanish architect who has also designed much of Barcelona airport, the National Theatre of Catalonia, and even the new headquarters of global fashion company Desigual.

Of course, Spain may not hold this title for much longer, as celebrity chefs like Gordon Ramsay and Wolfgang Puck have also established their own restaurants, nestled deep within the spacious halls of their respective airports. It’s very likely that Spain will have to give up the crown and step down for another Michelin-starred airport restaurant to be named as the World’s Finest Airport Food.

I leave you with a shot of one of my favorite newly renovated airports...can anyone name it for the win?

*hope you enjoyed this guest post!