Wake Up Call Festival, W Barcelona

Imagine the thrill of a festival, the lively atmosphere, top music acts, dancing til’ dawn and celebrating with strangers. Now picture this epic experience with all the luxury comforts of five star hotel.

Last weekend my friend Eloise and I attended an event that was completely unique to it’s kind, Wake Up Call Festival. A two night music extravaganza that completely took over the famous W Hotel in Barcelona. The gig consisted of live music acts and world renowned DJ sets all the while with the backdrop of the glamorous high class resort. 

Spending the 21st- 23rd of September on site the entire hotel was decked out for the festival itself, with every aspect of our stay during these iconic dates being based around the party and what a party it was! There seemed to be no expense spared when it came to transforming the hotel into a one-stop-shop party venue and as someone who regularly takes on a week in Vegas it was as if the infamous strip had made it’s way to Europe for 48 hours. 

As well as the obvious bonuses of having a place to crash (that doesn’t require zipping up at night!) there’s a huge list of amenities within the hotel complex that allowed us to indulge in a fabulous weekend away in Barcelona as well enjoying the physical party scene itself.

The rooms at W Barcelona are pretty famous within the travel industry and upon arrival there was no disappointment when it came to believing the hype! Ceiling to floor windows just metres from the bed lead our gaze straight out to the Mediterranean Sea regardless of our position in the room at any given time. They are spacious and modern rooms and offer guests the full ‘care-free’ experience of having everything you need whilst away from home, including those enviable fluffy robes and slippers that we all check the wardrobe for first thing 😉

As well as the luxe rooms the food also didn’t disappoint when it came to staying at the W Barcelona. The breakfast was one of the most extensive spreads I’ve seen in Europe, leaving absolutely nothing to the imagination when it comes to the first meal of the day! It was luckily served until 11.30am as well, a real bonus when the parties ended at 7am!

Food served during the day was also a specially curated for festival guests and we enjoyed lunch at the Wave restaurant which is also where breakfast is served and the Salt Restaurant & Beach Club which is nestled on the sand next to the wide expanse of beach that fringes the city of Barcelona. Each option fully satisfying our hungover bellies!

After resting up from an early flight and enjoying some yummy food we spent a few hours at the beach on our first day, soaking up some pre-party sun 😉 The hotel is located steps away from the sand so a trip to the sea is a must, there’s beds and waiter service available to guests of the hotel. It’s a really cool end of the main beach, super lively with acrobats, tight rope walkers and paddle boarders, people playing music and it’s just a genuinely socially active and buzzing area.

After beach time we were ready to gear up for the night’s events.  After showering and changing in the comfort of our sky-high room we headed down to the lobby to get the party started.

To say the atmosphere was electric at Wake Up Call would be somewhat of an understatement, involving an entire hotel in an event is a definite recipe for success when it comes to making it memorable! As soon as we stepped foot outside of the lift we felt the buzz. From start to finish the night was a welcomed blur, we witnessed live music from the likes of Black Coffee, Robin Schulz and Martin Solveig and fireworks erupted around us as we were sipping on G&T’s. To warm up and take full advantage of everything on offer we started our night with some Wet Deck nibbles and a shisha, the best shisha I’ve EVER had I’d like to add! Then we took the party up and notch moving below deck and then eventually upstairs to the famous Eclipse skybar on the 26th floor of the hotel. We danced all night, we drank our way through the cocktail list and made new friends for life. All the while we didn’t have to spend more than two seconds in a toilet queue as we simply dashed upstairs to use our very own 😉 If not having to queue for a wee doesn’t ‘seal’ the deal for reasons to book Wake Up Call I don’t know what will! 

After the madness of the two day party extravaganza we spent our last day winding down at the pool. There’s two large pools at W Barcelona both offering an amazing view of the Mediterranean and whilst the Wet Deck pool is the most famous and notoriously social for Barcelona’s affluential tourists we opted for the alternative pool purely because it was the less busier of the two and after going pretty wild the night before we couldn’t think of a better place to wind down in the sunshine! The sun beds were plush mattresses allowing us a sneaky nap mid-day and waiter service meant that we didn’t have to lift a finger all day! The food by the pool was yummy and when it comes to the swim-up view, well I’m hoping the pictures below will speak for themselves 😉
As well as being well fed and looked after in the evenings we signed up to some fitness classes first thing in the mornings, perhaps against our better judgement with very sore heads from the night before! The festival included some fun classes as part of the full experience of Wake up Call and we completed a HIT class on one of hotel’s the open air decks (offering a pretty neat view for a pair of sweaty eyes to enjoy!). We also tried the mental and physical challenge of pilates on a stand up paddle board in the Mediterranean, an activity that I absolutely loved and will sign up for again! 

Let me tell you, there really is no better (tried & tested) cure for a hangover than doing a backbend on board that’s floating in the casually bobbing in the Sea!

After what’s now been two successful festivals in California and Barcelona, Wake Up Festival is now set to take over Bali on the 5th and 6th of this month and next year it’s Dubai’s turn. If you happen to be in Bali day passes are still available, I’m jealous!

Should my dates concede I would love to get back to the festival, it was up there as one of my favourite weekends of this year for sure! I am however switching up my scene tomorrow and heading to a destination that has been on my bucket list for years, can you guess where? 

Sabrina x