Big developers invest in Marbella

It doesn’t seem like it now, amid Covid restrictions, but large investors certainly do believe in the full return to health of the Costa del Sol’s tourist industry, as various large international hotel groups and funds have announced important new projects in and around Marbella.

Some of these are already in the early stages of development, such as the collaboration between the Villa Padierna group and Four Seasons, a luxury Canadian hotel brand belonging to the Starwood-Marriott. The outcome of this joint project will be a five-star deluxe resort with 180-room hotel, as well as 200 apartments and 40 villas. The project, which involves an investment of €700 million, will also encompass the creation of a scenic path from the resort to the beach, where The Surf Club will provide stylish seaside attractions, including 30 boutique hotel rooms with fantastic frontline beach perspectives.

Other large new projects of a similar standing and scale will further add to the modern luxury appeal of this region, including the beachside resort envisaged by a Hong-Kong based investment fund that acquired a large 170.000m2 tract of land between Los Monteros and El Rosario. Such a rare location deserves nothing but the best, and it will receive it in the form of a stylish modern five-star W Hotel – one of the first in Spain – that will boast leading architectural design and 186 rooms and suites, as well as top quality restaurants and amenities. The complex will also have its own beach club, with a further 86 aparthotel suites and further down the line will include private residences and golf.

Involving €200 million in investment, the project is scheduled to be ready for the 2023 summer season, beating in scale the €77 million Siete Revueltas Resort in nearby Santa Clara. This luxurious hotel development by developers from Manama, Bahrain, will, however, be ready a year earlier, as will extensive renovation work on the iconic Don Miguel Hotel in Marbella, carried out under the auspices of French holiday brand Club Med, which is investing €72 million. With so many top names coming to the Costa del Sol or strengthening their position here, Hilton could of course not be left out, and the American company will be adding a new 194-room hotel to the Puerto Banús landscape.

It will be the first hotel in Spain to bear the Conrad brand and will involve an investment of €134 million and expected completion in time for the summer 2022 season. This level of direct involvement and financial outlay by top international hotel chains and funds underscores true belief in the future of our region and the return to strength of its tourist sector – and it can count on the full support of the local authorities and the regional government of Andalucía, which have committed themselves to streamlining the procedural processes in support of the several thousand jobs that will be created here.