The Grande Hotel do Guadiana, after years of closure and a troubled process that culminated in the expropriation of the building by the Vila Real de Santo António City Council, will be reborn and transformed into a charming hotel, by the hands of a southern hotel chain -African.
The news was revealed by the president of the Chamber Luís Gomes, in an interview with Sul Informação. The building's expropriation process, led by the municipal company SRU, which manages the urban rehabilitation interventions in the historic center of VRSA, should be completed "within a few weeks, when we deposit the expropriation money", said the mayor.
In the meantime, there was a public tender for the concession to operate the hotel, which was won by a group of Portuguese businessmen, whose names Luís Gomes did not want to announce yet, but who guaranteed that they were «people connected to the hotel industry, who worked with important groups and have a know-how interesting, who want to start their own business».
Luís Gomes: Investors are «people connected to the world of hospitality, who have worked with important groups and have a know-how interesting, who want to start their own business».
«The idea is to bring in a South African chain, Grand Africa, with whom these investors already have a contract», to transform the old hotel located on the riverside avenue of the River Guadiana, «into a hotel of charm and city».
No website of the grand africa group In fact, a page has already been created for its first hotel in Portugal, which is announced as “the next chapter” in South African investments, and which will change its name to “Grand Africa Café & Suites”. The group, which already operates three hotels of the same concept in South Africa and another in neighboring Zimbabwe, will have its first European adventure in the Algarve.
The mayor of Vila Real de Santo António announces that, although "we've been smoothing out rough edges for months", "I expect to sign the contract in the next few weeks".
The expropriation of the building designed in 1918 by architect Ernesto Korrodi and which has been classified since 2010 as Municipal Interest, cost 500 thousand euros. The concession will be for a period of 20 years, providing that the concessionaire will pay the municipal company SRU a rent, "which will include the amortization of the investment made by us".
The fact is that, although nothing on the French facade of the Hotel Guadiana will be altered, as «its architecture is undoubtedly an asset», the municipal company will be responsible for the works that will be carried out inside the unit and which are financed by the under the Jessica Funds. «We are going to intervene in its core, re-qualify the interior and adapt it to the times of today and of a five-star hotel, with the desired characteristics», explained Luís Gomes.
The mayor is very happy with this investment, especially since the process of the Hotel Guadiana "has been dragging on for too many years". And he guarantees that, «from the point of view of the concept of a charming, urban hotel, it is one of the first in the Algarve».
This investment will be «fundamental for bringing tourism into the historic center of Vila Real de Santo António», contributing even more to revitalize an area that has been the target of other urban redevelopment interventions, also financed by Jessica.
Luís Gomes: «We want to lease the two buildings in Praça Marquês de Pombal that are owned by the municipality, next to the church and CGD. The idea is to bring tourism here to the city center»
But the plans of the municipality of Vilarreal to boost tourism in the city center do not stop there. “We have already launched a tender, which was left out, and we are currently accepting proposals for the two buildings in Praça Marquês de Pombal that are owned by the municipality, next to the church and CGD. These are buildings that we also want to make available as beds, through a concession. The idea is to bring tourism here to the city center».
And will they have appeared interested, since the contest was deserted? “They have been interested, but these things have their time. The economy is as we all know, people talk to us, but this is a relationship that has to be matured», says Luís Gomes.
The Hotel Guadiana, located on the riverfront on the left bank of the River Guadiana, was built between 1918 and 1921, with a project by architect Ernesto Korrodi.
It was designed according to the eclectic French style model, in keeping with the taste of the time, of elegant decorative richness, with lines between the Art Nouveau aesthetic and classical composition.
It is a building with a regular rectangular plan, in a corner formed by a turreted element, with cornice and parapet finishes. It is a sober building with sparse decoration following classical grammar. Differentiated treatment of the façades, according to their importance, reducing the decorative work from the main façade to the posterior one.
Its classification as a Building of Municipal Interest, in 2010, took into account, according to a municipal decision of 21 October of that year, its «insertion in the historic area of Vila Real de Santo António and its emblematic character for the city», constituting thus "immovable property whose protection and enhancement represents a cultural value of predominant significance for the municipality".
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