You might not find the legendary lost city of El Dorado on the 24th floor of the NHow Hotel in Amsterdam, but you will find Sonora Bar — a luxury Spanish cocktail bar steeped in the mythology of pre-Columbian design. Designed by Barcelona-based studio El Equipo Creativo, Sonora Bar brings Latin American flavours — including their singnature Azul Margarita — to a European audience.

Designed to complement its sister space, the Selva Restaurant, located on the same floor of the NHow Hotel, El Equipo Creativo’s Sonora Bar was imagined with a distinctly Latin American flair. But where Selva Restaurant reveals a lush tropical forest, Sonora Bar is the hidden gem in the jungle. 

A dazzling golden structure, the central bar immediately draws the eye. Inspired by pre-Columbian gold idols, the rounded, organic form — evoking a giant mushroom — gleams with a golden finish from floor to ceiling. Grooved surfaces around the room reflect a dappled texture, much like cascading water, that is echoed in the tiled, glass facade behind the bar and the watery pattern of the carpet. Organic-shaped furniture in pops of red and vibrant patterns are meant to evoke poisonous fruit and other jungle dangers that exist by a watering hole. Add in the lush greenery and hanging plants, and Sonora Bar is something out of a fairy tale.

Despite the challenge of balancing this dramatic interior with the bar’s stunning view (courtesy of a glass facade by OMA studio) — not to mention cultivating an authentic Latin American feel in a Dutch hotel — El Equipo Creativo is up to the task with the fantastical Sonora Bar. 

“It’s more than just having a drink. It’s about feeling like you’re part of an exciting story,” says the Sonora bar team. “If you want a fun escape and a taste of old tales, come visit. Every sip is an adventure.”