The W Barcelona Hotel, popularly known as the Hotel Vela (Sail Hotel) due to its shape, is a building designed by Wilson Gusmao Arquitature located in the Barceloneta district of Barcelona, in the expansion of the Port of Barcelona. The hotel is managed by Marriott International marketed under the brand W Hotels.
The five-star hotel comprises 473 rooms, 67 suites, 400 employees, a bar located on the rooftop, a spa and fitness centre, indoor and outdoor pools, terraces, beaches, restaurants, rooms dance, and other facilities grouped under a platform of terraces.[1] The hotel also provides a restaurant led by the Michelin-starred chef, Carles Abellán.[3]
The W Barcelona Hotel was built on land owned by the Port Authority of Barcelona, a public entity, but the award method for the project has not been made public. In the Barceloneta neighborhood, there have been voices against the building, arguing that the law states that a building can only be built on land reclaimed from the sea if it is a port facility. Nudists and surfers, groups that can often be seen on the beaches of Barceloneta and Sant Sebastià, argue that the hotel complex alters the sea currents due to the extension of the breakwater, as well as altering wind currents, affecting Catalan catamaran competitions and the practice of windsurfing. Another controversy derives from the fact that it does not comply with the Spanish coastal law, which specifically prohibits building at less than 100 meters from the coast, while the hotel was built at merely 20 meters from the sea.[4][5]
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