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W Hotels continues its reinvention with a growing portfolio of properties across Italy, supported by its latest opening: W Sardinia – Poltu Quatu, a 157-room resort located in a secluded sports village on the island’s northeast coast.

The property joins the W Rome and the recently opened W Florence, giving the Marriott-owned luxury lifestyle brand three markedly different interpretations of Italy. Guests can now visit all three through W’s “Italian Tour,” a new travel offering that combines suite accommodations and locally inspired food and drink experiences in Florence, Rome and Sardinia.

“We don’t need to reinvent it,” says Brad Wulff, vice president and global brand leader at W Hotels. Variety. “W Hotels has always been at its best when it’s a little ahead of where culture is going, whether it’s design, music, fashion, nightlife or the way people gather. Our job now is to take that DNA and make it relevant to the way people live and travel today.”

That evolution is immediately visible at W Sardinia, which occupies a collection of whitewashed buildings built into the rocky shoreline surrounding the town’s marina. The hotel’s interiors were designed by Meyer Davis and draw inspiration from the island’s caves, coastal landscape, craft traditions and folklore, including stories of the Janas, fairy-like figures said to inhabit ancient sites in Sardinia.

Rather than replicating the overtly nightclub-inspired aesthetic associated with previous iterations of W, the property offers a more restrained take on the brand’s social energy. Its 157 rooms and suites are conceived as grotto-like retreats, with textured stone, curved details and reflective surfaces that evoke the surrounding water.

“Sardinia has this incredible duality,” says Wulff. “It’s obviously beautiful, but it also has a wild edge to it. It doesn’t seem too polished or predictable. And Poltu Quatu in particular has that sense of discovery. You arrive and feel like you’ve found something unique.”

The resort is centered around its marina and WET Deck pool, while its food and beverage offering includes TANIT, a beachfront restaurant run by chef Antonio Bitetto. The restaurant, named after an ancient goddess associated with abundance, emphasizes Sardinian seafood and produce and overlooks yachts sailing through the harbor. An exclusive pastry room overseen by Italian pastry chef Fabrizio Fiorani makes breakfast one of the most elaborate dining experiences on the property.

Guests can also cross the bay to the hotel’s beach club on nearby islands. An ideal day at the property might consist of coffee at TANIT, followed by a boat ride to the beach and a snack back at the hotel as the sun sets.

That balance between seclusion and activity is critical to the property’s intended appeal. “They don’t necessarily want to choose between a restorative escape and a social and cultural experience,” Wulff says of today’s luxury traveler. “W Sardinia offers you both and lets you decide when you want each.”

The Sardinia resort also offers the W a coastal counterpart to its two Italian city hotels. W Rome, opened in 2021, is located within a historic palace near the Spanish Steps and contains 148 rooms and suites. Its restaurants and nightlife spaces include Giano, chef Ciccio Sultano’s Sicilian-inspired restaurant; the cocktail-focused W Lounge; and Citrico Rooftop, which serves naturally leavened pizza and Mediterranean dishes with city views. A WET deck on the sixth floor offers a plunge pool and another gathering space above the capital.

Meanwhile, W Florence opened with 119 rooms near Piazza di Santa Maria Novella. The property combines contemporary interiors with references to Florentine Medici architecture, art and history, including a custom reception mural depicting exotic animals once associated with the ruling family’s collection. Its Zefiro Rooftop looks out over the Duomo and Santa Maria Novella, while the hotel’s programming includes art exhibitions, workshops and collaborations with local creatives.

The challenge in the next phase of the company’s renewal is to convince travelers whose image of W may have been formed 15 or 20 years ago to reconsider the brand. “When you enter this new generation of hotels, the change is quite immediate,” says Wulff. “The design is more sophisticated, the service is more intuitive and the energy is still there; it has just evolved.”

“We don’t want to erase what people loved about the W Hotels,” he continues. “We want to remind them why it was so exciting in the first place and show them what that looks like now.”