W Barcelona is an iconic piece of architecture on the Barcelona coastline even though it opened its doors just three years ago October 1, 2009. The hotel was designed by architect Ricardo Bofill to create the appearance of a 26-story windsail.
The hotel is in the Barceloneta beach district at the end of the boardwalk. The hotel is about one mile from the Barceloneta metro stop. There is not much else out there at the end of the harbor spit of land. Heavy rain showers today made for some wave action and surfers were out in the water.
I did spot one couple pulling their luggage along the boardwalk out to the W Barcelona. The vast majority of guests I’m sure arrive by taxi.
The rain showers meant the pool and expansive outdoor deck were not in use. The good thing about the rain was my opportunity to photograph the area with no guests around the pool.
I didn’t walk the road to the hotel so I do not know if there are any cafes or shops. From the beach boardwalk side I saw only the immense Club Natacio Barcelona seen in the photo below showing volleyball courts and swimming pools.
View of Club Natacio Barcelona seen from the W Barcelona 25th floor. The road to the W Barcelona is on the other side of the club.
The W Barcelona PR team was kind enough to show me two rooms. One room you can obtain with your 20,000 or 25,000 points for this SPG category 6 hotel. The entry level room rates are about 250 to 400 EUR and more.
W Barcelona Wonderful Room King Bed 24th Floor
W Barcelona 24th floor sea view looking south to Barcelona cruise ship port.
Many of the guests at the W Barcelona are cruise ship travelers in port. There are four large cruise ships docked in front of the cranes on the right side of this photo.
Desk area backs up to King bed. Floor to ceiling mirrors give impression of larger space for an effective illusion. The website states the Wonderful room is 40 square meters which is about 430 square feet. Actually this size room is larger than most standard W hotel rooms I have seen which are usually only about 300 to 325 square feet.
Curtains operate by remote control at bedside.
One feature of the room I have not seen in other W hotels is a light color control.
Remote control changes the color of the box and I was told the hanging art above reflects the color across the room at night.
Wonderful bathroom with both glass doors open for toilet and shower.
Sink area of Wonderful bathroom.
The elevator waiting area has floor to ceiling windows allowing great city vistas even if your room faces the seaport like this particular room.
Barcelona city view from the elevator hallway windows.
The other room I was extremely fortunate to walk through is the Extreme WOW Suite on the 25th floor. This is the premier suite of the W Barcelona with the ability to have three bedrooms. I only saw one bedroom of the suite.
The standard sized Wonderful room is 40 square meters. The outdoor deck space for the Extreme WOW Suite is 59 square meters and includes a jacuzzi tub. The full 3-bedroom suite is over 3,000 square feet. I think I saw about 1,800 square feet of that space.
Based on the Extreme WOW Suite rate shown today on the W Barcelona website at 10,870EUR, I calculate my 10 minute stay was worth about USD$100 in occupancy time.
W Barcelona Extreme WOW Suite – the telescope should allow you to check out the suites in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Arts, the left tower of the twin skyscrapers.
W Barcelona Extreme WOW Suite desk and living room.
W Barcelona Extreme WOW Suite living room and desk in reverse view. The drawing behind the desk is by architect Ricardo Bofill.
Entry hall is far right. Doorway by column is the small kitchen. The passageway behind the dining table leads to the master bedroom.
Extreme WOW Suite small kitchen unit.
I can only imagine how beautiful this Barcelona coastline and city view must be on a clear day. Actually the skies totally cleared 90 minutes after I left the hotel. I wanted a redo of my W Barcelona visit.
My consolation were gorgeous clear sky vistas of Barcelona from Antoni Gaudi’s Parc Güell in the late afternoon.
Light wood features are the striking feature of this space between the main room and the bedroom. Or perhaps a bit of Gaudi.
This double bench design by Gaudi was originally created for the dining room of Casa Batlló (1907). The outdoor deck covered jacuzzi is visible behind the bench.
There did not appear to be another door for the bedroom. This is rather effective concealment though.
Extreme WOW Suite Master bedroom.
Reverse view of bedroom.
Bath with a view.
Dual sinks, toilet, shower and dressing room with ample mirror space.
Extreme WOW Suite deck outside bedroom is rather large. The double size floor bed (seen in first bed photo) was behind me when I snapped this photo. The jacuzzi is behind the plant and more deck chairs are outside the living room section.
My W Barcelona Extreme WOW Suite experience was nice while it lasted.
W Hotel Lobby
Guests enter the hotel in a large atrium space with reception on the right and Concierge desk and room floor elevators in front. I did not see the 26th floor Eclipse bar.
I visited the lobby bar.
The W Barcelona lobby is located in the cube portion of the hotel.
The rectangular section of W Barcelona holds the lobby and two restaurants and meeting rooms.
This water feature between the bar, Wave Restaurant and pool deck exemplifies the kind of style Barcelona and W Hotels offer. Simple elegance.
WET on a wet day in Barcelona.
W Barcelona
Wave is the lobby level restaurant.
Bravo upper level restaurant.
A third restaurant is on the terrace on the Barcelona Port side of the hotel.
La Viblia Restaurant, W Barcelona.
W Barcelona (near left) seen from Gaudi’s Parc Güell miles across the city in the late afternoon that day after the skies cleared.
Loyalty Traveler post link: http://loyaltytraveler.boardingarea.com/2012/09/19/w-barcelona-extreme-wow-suite/
Ric Garrido, writer and owner of Loyalty Traveler, shares news and views on hotels, hotel loyalty programs and vacation destinations for frequent guests. You can follow Loyalty Traveler on Twitter and Facebook and RSS feed.
13 Comments
Comments are closed.