W Hotels Worldwide has opened the W Xiamen in the Chinese city’s trendy, downtown East Business District.

The hotel’s design by Hirsch Bedner Associates pays tribute to Xiamen’s tropical surroundings, natural beauty of its harbour and its transformation from an industrial port city to a modern music mecca. Here, the mixing of people over millennia has inspired an idiosyncratic culture that embraces wildly varied musical forms and young, rebellious attitudes which W Xiamen captures through show-stopping digital installations and specially commissioned art pieces.

At W the Store, the iconic look of Gaojia opera singers is reimagined as contemporary art, with hypnotic faces rendered in oil paint on curved metal walls. Before stepping into the Living Room (W’s signature take on the lobby), guests find themselves in an electric forest made of neon glass pillars, their hushed stillness contrasted with sudden bursts of flute notes played every time guests approach the lobby centerpiece — an interactive art piece inspired by the musical instruments displayed at a local organ museum.

Among the highlights of W Xiamen’s 293 guest rooms and suites are feature walls that use digitally rendered artworks to bring the city’s tropical nature indoors by means of RGB (red-green-blue) illustrations that work as a color puzzle with pieces falling into place once the ambient light shifts from one color to the next, as well as consoles and coffee tables inspired by Bo Bing, a popular local dice game.

The Extreme WOW Suite is a 262-square-meter contemporary art-filled venue that sets the scene for private parties. An expansive entertainment area is anchored by a plush L-shaped sofa, and the suite’s party trick activates with a flick of a switch, amping up the drama with underwater ripples across the room.

W Xiamen’s four distinctive dining concepts are set to captivate travelers and locals with innovative fare and eclectic beverage offerings. At Heat, the destination bar by WET (the pool), music curator Marc Lussier spins as guests sip on Champagne in a hot tub. On the menu are modern street food-inspired bar bites and cocktails that pay homage to the island’s ancient Amoy heritage. Nestled within the lobby-level Living Room is Soundscape, a socially-responsible community hub to recharge with organic brews and healthy beverages to the soundtrack of W-curated music.

Thrill-seekers can dive into a fusion of Cantonese and Minnan flavours at Min Yen, which hosts private Cognac tastings paired with mystery menus. For all-day dining, all roads lead to Nine, an upscale food hall by day with nine interactive stations that tempt with fresh baked goods and handmade noodles during the day. At night, NINE serves premium steaks and seafood. In the afternoons, a sophisticated Hi Tea @ Nine highlights Fujian’s tea culture with a selection of rare infusions, along with customised craft beers.

The hotel’s 1,000 square-metre Great Room, with its avant-garde art and cutting-edge technology, features a 110-square-meter LED screen, the largest in the city, to create events like no other. Colour-changing starburst ceiling bulbs add extra sparkle to every celebration. W Xiamen also offers highly customizable Studios for smaller events with décor featuring floral resin tables and abstract oil paintings, a reminder that art and commerce often go hand in hand.

At Fit, W Xiamen’s 24/7 fitness centre, a dramatic speaker wall keeps both casual gym-goers and fitness obsessives in the groove. Wet — a rainbow-hued aqualand — features a mosaic wall reflecting gently filtered sunlight, sending a prism of lilacs and canary yellows dancing on the surface of the pool, while the Away Spa sits on the highest floor and offers a tranquil antidote to Xiamen’s hustle and bustle with calming spaces inspired by a colony of egrets. In addition to couple’s massages, manicures and pedicures, the hotel’s signature spa treatment, Egret Does Massage soothes the body and mind with a pampering foot ritual followed by the gentle application of essential oils using feathers in a light motion resembling an egret’s flight.

“Xiamen is a dynamic and highly charged city with a youthful energy and drive that is an ideal fit for the W Hotels brand,” says Tom Jarrold, Global Brand Leader, W Hotels Worldwide. “Our playful and intriguing nature comes to life through immersive art and design, Happenings like live music performances and our Whatever/Whenever service, which we know will be embraced by local creatives and international travelers alike.

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