W HOTELS Worldwide, part of Marriott Bonvoy’s portfolio of 30 extraordinary hotel brands, has recently announced the opening of W Xiamen. The hotel is set in Xiamen’s trendy, downtown East Business District where sunset reveals an edgy, creative street culture and an upscale dining scene. This makes it the ideal locale for a design-led hotel that provides guests the ultimate insider access to all the design, fashion, energy and music in its destination. The hotel’s design pays tribute to Xiamen’s tropical surroundings, aware of the natural beauty of its harbor and its transformation from an industrial port city to a modern music mecca. 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 guestrooms and suites are feature walls that use digitally rendered artworks to bring the city’s tropical nature indoors. (SD News) | 