W Hotels Worldwide will make its debut in Colombia with the opening of W Bogota this fall. Designed by New York-based firm Studio Gaia, W Bogota will feature interiors that draw inspiration from Colombia’s legend of El Dorado.
According to the legend, during the pre-Colombian period, the area’s native Muisca people sent their new tribal rulers covered with gold dust on a raft of rushes embellished with precious jewels on Lake Guatavita. The new ruler would then toss the treasures into the lake as an offering to the lake goddess.
Studio Gaia sought to recreate this and other similar stories throughout the entire hotel. A bronze and resin butterfly installation, inspired by the butterflies from Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez novel One Hundred Years of Solitude, sets the tone in the lobby. In W’s Living Room, strands of golden strings suspended from the ceiling create intimate seating zones around the focal bar. On the floor, modern textile interpretations of traditional Wayúu—Indian communities that inhabit the Peninsula of La Guajira— pair with brightly colored ottomans and seating resembling gold stones.
Public areas and guestrooms use bright natural light as well as leather, contemporary patterned synthetics, colorful velvet, and jacquard fabrics, with a nod to Colombian textiles. All 168 of the guestrooms and suites are appointed with modern touches and furniture covered in bright-colored leather, vinyl, and white sheers. The WOW suite is also inspired by the legend of El Dorado and features a palette inspired by the green of Colombian emeralds and the blue of Lake Guatavita.
Drawn from Colombia’s calla lily flower, the hotel’s Market Kitchen uses over-scaled, architectural lily forms and a palette of white with pops of green. Wooden floors and white banquettes generate create a contemporary atmosphere.
