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If your flight has overflown Barcelona's coast and you have looked down through the plane window, this wonderful building that seems to enter Mediterranean waters like a glass vessel surely caught your attention. If it already looks impressive from above, observing this magnificent and significant architectural work at street level will not leave you indifferent at all.
The building, which was designed by Ricardo Bofill, was erected on an area of 61,000 square metres, which were reclaimed from the sea, near the Barceloneta and Sant Sebastià beaches, in the Barceloneta district. Thanks to the characteristic silvery glass covering the entire surface, the architectural work seems to merge with the coastal landscape of the area, providing the hotel with greater magnificence.
The initial project consisted of a sail-shaped tower rising over 160 metres in height, but the Barcelona City Council, with the aim of not altering the Olympic Village district, crowned by the Mapfre Tower and the Hotel Arts, stopped it and asked the architect to modify the project. Thus, in 2010, the building was opened with a height of 87.75 metres, much lower than it was initially planned.
This is a luxury hotel with 473 rooms and suites offering breath-taking panoramic sea and coastline views of the city which cost 280 million euros.
Furthermore, you should know that, although the five-star hotel is known as Hotel Vela (Sail Hotel), its real name is W Barcelona and belongs to the Starwood Hotels and Resorts hotel chain.
Although the project height was restricted to just about half of the actually envisaged height, it is a work that will surely impress you with its aesthetics and design. And the Hotel Vela (Sail Hotel) is currently one of the most photographed buildings in the city.
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