The Dom José Beach Hotel, one of the first to be built in the Algarve, is undergoing extensive renovations. The works, which began in November, include renovations to all rooms, public areas, restaurant, bar and outdoor area. The objective is to «bring more comfort to customers» and «greater modernity» to the emblematic hotel in Quarteira.
Founded in 1965, when it was still called «Toca do Coelho», Dom José was one of the first hotels to be created even before the tree of tourism in the Algarve.
Even today, it continues to have a privileged location, on top of the Quarteira beach promenade and right on the seafront: just leave the hotel and you are on the beach, where D. José even has a concession.
About to turn 60 years old – and without any major renovations since 2011 – management decided it was time to move forward with works.
In conversation with Sul Informação, João Soares, director of D. José and grandson of its founder, explains that the customers themselves «already asked for some improvements».
«This is a profound remodeling, wanting to bring more comfort to customers, greater modernity and repositioning of the product», he says.
In the rooms, reading lights, USB ports for charging, new LCDs, as well as coffee machines and kettles. The general decor has also been changed.
«In public areas, we will modernize them, giving them a younger look and greater comfort. We will also have new menus and two distinct areas: a main bar and a pool bar that will support the concession. At the restaurant, we added a new kitchen team to have more themed menus,” he explains.
In addition, 44 solar panels were installed, new hot water taps – more efficient – and the aluminum windows in the rooms were changed for «a different thermal comfort».
João Soares recognizes that the product was already «somewhat tired», so the remodeling, which costs 2,3 million euros, came at the right time.
The investment is supported by the Offer Qualification Support Line, from Turismo de Portugal, which was recently reinforced with another 30 million allocated to the Algarve.
«We are making a rebranding total, also look for the history of the hotel, which is a family unit – in a year and a half we will be 60 years old and we want to convey this history to the new generation. Basically, what we want is not to lose the current customer, but also looking for new ones », he explains.
For now, the rooms on two of the floors need to be renovated, as well as the common areas. The hotel never closed and there are already customers in the new, remodeled rooms.
«The feedback has been very good. This is a sign of the vitality of our hotel: there were a series of things that we didn't have – and that customers asked us for, essentially related to comfort inside the rooms», says João Soares.
One of the objectives is also to take advantage of the challenge that the direct flight from the United States of America to the Algarve will provide, starting in May.
«We are committed to conquering the North American market, because we think the hotel has all the potential to do so», he concludes.
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