ZEL Fuerteventura

ZEL is the hotel brand Meliá created with Rafa Nadal, a collection inspired by Mediterranean living and active, social wellbeing. Its first hotel in the Canary Islands opened in May 2026 on Playa Barca, at the northern end of the Sotavento beaches on Fuerteventura's south coast, after a complete rebrand of the former INNSiDE by Meliá Fuerteventura. Nadal opened it formally on 25 June 2026. It is for adults only, from 16, with 142 rooms and suites set around gardens and a central patio, and direct access to the beach.

Every room and suite has a terrace or balcony. The entry Zel Room has 48 m² and a balcony over the gardens; the Zel Ocean View has the same 48 m² with a terrace on the Atlantic. The junior suites run to 54 m², and the version with a garden adds a private garden and a sun lounger. The suites have 64 m², a sitting area and a freestanding bathtub, and Casa Zel, the largest at 85 m², has two terraces and sea views by the lagoons. Interiors are Mediterranean in tone, with natural materials and plenty of light, and the sea-view rooms come with HAAN toiletries.

The reason to come is what happens on the water. A four-minute walk through the palm garden brings you to the René Egli centre on the beach, where René Egli set up his windsurf business in 1984 and has organised the Fuerteventura World Cup since 1986, with a break from 2020 to 2022. The 38th edition, in 2026, was a PWA windsurfing Grand Slam followed by a GWA wingfoil World Cup, and between 2016 and 2019 the GKA kite tour came here too. The school teaches kitesurfing, windsurfing and wing foiling, and holds the exclusive licence for lessons in the shallow tidal lagoon along the beach, more than 4 km long. Courses and equipment are paid for separately. Back at the hotel there is a heated infinity pool facing the Atlantic, a 24-hour gym, and a studio for HIIT, Pound and barre classes. Parda serves Mediterranean cooking with Canarian produce from breakfast to dinner, with Parda Beach, the beach bar, Café de Finca for speciality coffee and Voltaje for cocktails.

The trade is the wind and the distance. Sotavento is a strong-wind spot all year, which is why the World Cup is held here, but some afternoons are too blustery for lying on the sand. Costa Calma, the nearest town, is a six-minute drive, and nothing but the beach and the hotel next door is on foot. Book it if the wind is the reason for the trip, or if you want to learn, and take a room that faces the sea.