Axel Hotels will expand to Portugal with two openings in Porto and Madeira

Axel Hotels accelerates its national and international expansion project. The LGBTQ+ hotel chain founded in Barcelona by Juan Julià in 2003 plans to open four new hotels in the next two years, bringing its network to fourteen establishments located in five countries.

The company, led by Albert Olivé, has announced the opening of a hotel in Porto in 2025, an operation that will allow it to land in Portugal, one of the countries considered safest for the gay community. The commitment to the Portuguese market will be completed with the inauguration of another establishment in Funchal, the capital of the Madeira archipelago, although, for now, there is no opening date.

These two new establishments in Portugal join the projects already announced in Valencia and Bilbao, cities that will debut an Axel hotel in 2024. "Despite the situation of uncertainty in the post-pandemic period and the current context of inflation in which we find ourselves, our numbers support us and only reinforce that our business model is consolidated, having reactivated our expansion plan with which to continue growing in the main national and international markets," explained Olivé, CEO of the group.

According to the executive, Axel Hotels expects to close 2023 with a 21% increase in turnover, with revenues reaching 45 million euros. These data are supported by the fact that in the first half of the year the company's sales have experienced a 36% rise thanks to a 19% increase in occupancy and a 26% improvement in RevPar, the hotel sector metric that measures revenue per available room.

The new Axel Hotels in Porto will be located on Avenida dos Aliados, near the city's main tourist attractions. It will have 80 rooms and its opening will involve an investment of one million euros. For this opening, the chain has partnered with a local family office and has signed a lease agreement. The idea is that a Sky Bar will be located on the hotel's rooftop, as in the rest of the brand's establishments. The Axel in Porto will also have a gym with a spa and a restaurant.

Currently, Axel owns two hotels in Barcelona, two in Berlin (Germany) and one in Madrid, Maspalomas (Gran Canaria), Ibiza, San Sebastián, Miami (USA) and Cuba. The chain arrived in the latter country in March 2022, when it inaugurated the Telégrafo, the first LGBTQ+ hotel in Havana, located in a historic building in the city center with 63 rooms.

Axel Hotels plans to launch a loyalty program, Axel&You, at the end of the year, with the aim of increasing sales through its direct booking channel, which has grown by 15% in the first half of the year, compared to an 8% increase in external channels.