The Pestana Hotel Group (PHG) will invest 44 million euros in the opening of five new hotels in Lisbon and Porto, the group’s development manager, José Roquette, announced today.
In a meeting with the journalists in Lisbon, the official explained that in the capital of the country will open, in 2019, a four-star unit in Braamcamp Street, with 90 accommodation units (about 70% suites), and another in 2020, next to the Arch of the Augusta Street, with 89 rooms and classified with four stars.
These hotels have an investment of seven million euros each.
“We lacked four-star hotels in very commercial areas, and we have 200 more rooms in the center of Lisbon,” said José Roquette.
In January, José Roquette had admitted that the group would like to reinforce its presence in Lisbon, but that – similar to what other hotel groups have ‘complained about’ – real estate was very expensive.
In Porto, PHG plans to inaugurate, in November, the first City Center & Historical Hotel dedicated to Portuguese filigree. This new unit consists of 43 rooms, a museum with filigree workshop and a shop. The Pestana Porto – Goldsmith is a four star hotel on Avenida dos Aliados, and will not involve investment, as the group will manage this unit. The investment belongs to David Rosas.
The other project in Porto is scheduled to open in 2019 and is a Pousada de Portugal in Rua das Flores, with a capacity of 87 rooms, for an investment of 14 million euros.
The group also plans to invest 16 million euros in a new hotel in the Freixo area, next to the river Douro, with 167 rooms. “This is a project that our shareholder [Dionísio Pestana] has dreamed for a long time,” said José Roquette.
These five units in the two main cities of the country will make, according to the person in charge, to change “the dependency of the group”, having to have “more balance” in its hotel offer.
In terms of international expansion, and as reported on September 12, the Pestana group, in partnership with Cristiano Ronaldo, will open in Paris, France, the sixth hotel of the Pestana CR7 brand, in an investment of 60 million euros. euros.
This unit, which is due to open in 2023, will have four stars and will have 210 rooms, “the largest capacity to date. It is located on the Rive Gauche, near the Seine, between the Austerlitz and Lyon gares”, according to group.
“Like the other five hotels Pestana CR7 Lifestyle Hotels, this is a 50-50 investment partnership between Pestana Hotel Group and Cristiano Ronaldo,” which is run by the company, the group said on that day.
The footballer, quoted in the statement, said that “it makes perfect sense for the Pestana CR7 brand to be implemented in Paris, one of the most visited cities in the world.”
“With this achievement, we are going to double the brand’s portfolio, with a majority international expansion that reinforces its global visibility,” said José Roquette, Chief Development Officer of Pestana Hotel Group at the time.
The Pestana CR7 Lifestyle Hotels brand currently has two units in Lisbon and Funchal, but openings are planned in Madrid, New York, Marrakech and Paris for a total of 800 rooms.
José Roquette reaffirmed today that the group’s focus abroad will focus, essentially, on Europe and the United States of America. The priorities are the “European assertion as an international chain” and “pursuing the American dream”, recalled José Roquette.
In January, the official had already pointed out that the group had “the most ambitious expansion plan ever”, with projects of more than 200 million euros, always keeping the same focus: diversification of markets, brands, control ownership or management, among others.
Currently, it has 20 hotels under development, while others are negotiating, providing 10 openings in the next 18 months and another 10 in the next two to three years.
“We are going to have 3,500 new rooms in the next three to five years, exceeding 15,000 rooms,” he said.
PHG has and manages about 90 units in 15 countries.
