Million-dollar investment in the hotels of the Costa del Sol

The good results of the hotel sector in recent years, the new demands of travelers that require repositioning, and the confidence of ... major international chains in the Costa del Sol brand have led to unprecedented investment dynamism. More than 600 million euros are planned to be disbursed by hotel groups in hotel improvement projects and in the launch of new projects, some of which are already about to open their doors. This amount does not include the Four Seasons hotel complex in Marbella, a luxury project by businessman Ricardo Arranz valued at 650 million euros, whose construction of this new generation resort, combining hotel, residential, and villas with a beach club and flagship restaurant products, has already begun its countdown.

To highlight this strong private investment, it is enough to point out that the investment budget planned by the Provincial Council for next year is 96 million and that the budget of the Junta de Andalucía in the province amounts to 737 million. The vice president of the Costa del Sol Hotel Business Association (Aehcos), Javier Hernández, explains that what is happening in the province is that a repositioning of the offer is taking place as most of the investments go beyond improving services and interior design to undertake actions that allow them to opt for other market segments such as congresses, beauty, or sports tourism. He adds the strength of the brand that acts as a magnet that drives the landing of large international firms. Hernández assures that "we are witnessing a dynamism that has not been seen in recent years. The investment amounts are above 5% of what the hotel activity generates in revenue. This is a very important fact. That is, the sector earns about 5,500 to 6,000 million euros. Allocating 10% of investment to improvements is already remarkable." He also adds that in the Costa del Sol, the average number of years in which investments are made in facility updates is being reduced. "It is normal to invest in refurbishments every 15 years on average, and now it is being done in ten," he says.

Meliá Hotels is leading the way in this investment frenzy with a budget that far exceeds 125 million for the development of five five-star projects on the Costa del Sol and in the improvement of its flagship at this destination: the Gran Meliá Don Pepe, which has just closed its doors to undertake a comprehensive reform over twelve months in which it will invest 40 million euros. A renovation that begins just a few months after inaugurating the transformation of the Puerto Banús establishment that this group has turned into a five-star that bears the avant-garde luxury brand of ME Hotels. In addition, it plans establishments of this maximum category in Estepona and Ronda and is about to debut in the capital of Malaga with another five-star, the ME Málaga, also known as the Piqué hotel, which is located on the old site of the Andalucía cinema, right on Victoria Street. Gabriel Escarrer, president and CEO of Meliá Hotels International, raised the investment made in this establishment to 50 million, which has 105 double rooms, plus eight suites and 15 junior suites, a convention center, an à la carte restaurant, a terrace with a large heated outdoor infinity pool with a solarium next to a bar and a restaurant. It will be the fifth five-star in the city and the one that will mark the landing in it of the luxury brand ME. Escarrer is convinced that "in this city, ME by Meliá will find its natural space to respond with great success to the demand of the new experiential luxury traveler."

125

These are the millions that Meliá Hotels plans to invest in the Costa del Sol in five five-star projects, highlighting 50 million in the Me Málaga and 40 million in the reform of the legendary Don Pepe.

Among the major projects included in this investment fervor are the 120 million that the Greek luxury hotel group Ikos will carry out to undertake its second all-inclusive luxury complex on the Costa del Sol. After the opening in 2021 of Ikos Andalusia, with which it began its journey in Spain, this company acquired the old Marbella Playa hotel to make a five-star with 340 rooms that will open in 2028. The new bet of the Greek hotelier on the Costa del Sol will generate a thousand jobs between the development of the work and the operation of the hotel, according to sources from the Marbella City Council.

In this same town, another of the large investment items of the hotel sector is concentrated. It is the project with which the emblematic Incosol hotel will be recovered, which already has the green light from the Corporation that indicates that the budget planned for the reform is "historic" as it exceeds 87.4 million. A figure that they estimate may rise to the 150 million announced at the presentation of the project led by Pelayo Cortina Koplowitz. The new Incosol will have 168 rooms.

The legendary Los Monteros has also reopened, now under the Kimpton brand, after an investment exceeding 14 million euros, following its acquisition for 47 million in 2022 by the Swiss fund Stoneweg Hospitality and Bain Capital Credit.

87.4

The recovery of the iconic Incosol will have a cost ranging from the 87.4 million contemplated in the already granted license to the 150 million announced at its presentation.

To these flagship actions is added the one carried out by Selenta Group at the luxury hotel Don Carlos, which reopened this summer after a comprehensive multimillion-dollar improvement. The same path is being followed by the great hotel Las Dunas, in Estepona, whose management has been taken over by AC Marriott and which is already working on the adaptation of this establishment to be able to welcome its guests with a renovated face starting next spring under the luxury brand of the Autograph Collection group, according to Jorge González, director of the AC Marriott Málaga Palacio who raises the investment that has already begun to be made to around 15 million. In addition, he explains that Marriott also plans to undertake "imminently" the reform of the Larios hotel, in the center of the Costa del Sol capital nearly three years after presenting a project that involves an investment of eight million euros. "I trust that it will be finished next year. It is a beautiful project, with an expansion of rooms because there is a building that is annexed and that will increase from 45 rooms to over fifty," he explains to advance that there is also a comprehensive reform in the Málaga Palacio that by volume of rooms, 214, "will not be less than 15 million euros."

Among the most outstanding investments are also those planned in the Boho Club project in Marbella, which range between 47 and 87 million, depending on the building licenses to increase from 40 to 200 rooms; the nearly 23 million announced for the modernization of the Parador de Nerja, which will be closed for two years; or the several tens of millions contemplated for the landing of the first Waldorf in Spain and the only resort in Europe following the operation of Higuerón Developments to buy the Marbella Golf Country Club and with the help of Hilton.

120

The new project of the Greek chain Ikos, specialized in all-inclusive luxury, will involve an outlay of 120 million to build a hotel with 340 rooms.

With smaller amounts, the tuning of the Senator hotel also adds up, for 12 million; the nearly seven million to transform tourist apartments in Ramón Gómez de la Serna in Marbella into a four-star with 70 rooms that will open in 2026; or the four million that the Soho Boutique chain plans to invest in the expansion of the five-star Castillo de Santa Catalina, in Malaga, whose project has been waiting for the license for two and a half years and contemplates the construction of 23 new rooms in an adjacent plot, explains Gonzalo Armenteros, founder of Soho Boutique Hotels.

The Malaga group MS Hoteles has also closed this winter the Amaragua and the Tropicana to make improvements in these two four-stars. A long list of projects that shows the good health of tourism on the Costa del Sol.