Hyatt Hotels Corporation, one of the most important hotel groups in the world, has set out to make Barcelona one of its prominent locations in Europe. The American corporation aims to have, at a minimum, "between seven and eight more hotels" in the city, as announced by the president of Hyatt in the EMEA region, Javier Águila. The executive, who visited the Catalan capital due to the inauguration of the Grand Hyatt Barcelona Hotel ---the former Hotel Sofia---, highlights "the vocation for change" he has perceived in the Barcelona City Council and the fact that the new consistory "has very favorably welcomed the arrival of an international brand like ours." "I really like to see how the authorities have embraced us and that they are open to investment to reposition Barcelona in the world again," he said this Thursday in a meeting with the press.
After an investment of 20 million euros, the opening of the five-star Grand Hyatt Barcelona represents for the Chicago-based multinational the beginning of a new stage that clearly wants to mark a before and after in its relationship with the city. In fact, until now, the link between Hyatt and the Catalan capital was minimal, as its presence was reduced to two franchise contracts: one with the Hotel Sofia ---included within The Unbound Collection by Hyatt brand--- and another with the Hotel Hesperia Tower in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, which operates under the Hyatt Regency Barcelona Tower brand. Now, the group takes a significant leap, as, on the one hand, it has begun to directly manage the Sofia and has transformed it into a Grand Hyatt ---one of the most important luxury hotel brands for events and conventions in the world--- and, on the other hand, it will also take over the management of the Hotel Miramar after it has been acquired by Atom Hotels.
"We want Barcelona, one of the most visited cities in the world, to be an important player for Hyatt; I believe that the city can accommodate, at least, between seven and eight more hotels; we are going to try to have as many as possible in Barcelona, so we will analyze all opportunities that arise," explained Águila. According to the executive, after the implementation of the Grand Hyatt brand ---which makes Barcelona the first major Spanish city to have this seal and the second in Europe---, the objective now is to bring other reference brands of the multinational. "I am dying to open a Thompson hotel in Barcelona, or to be able to have a Park Hyatt on Paseo de Gracia," he highlighted, after emphasizing that "Barcelona is a wonderful city with a lot of potential."
Javier Águila: "We want Barcelona, one of the most visited cities in the world, to be an important player for Hyatt; I believe that the city can accommodate, at least, between seven and eight more hotels"The timid presence that Hyatt had until now in Barcelona contrasts, for example, with the strong implantation of Marriott, another of the large American hotel corporations, which in the city has about fifteen establishments, such as the Hotel W, the Arts, Cotton House or Le Meridien, in addition to operating hotels with other brands such as Edition, Renaissance, Four Points and AC.
Regarding Hyatt's plans for the Hotel Miramar, Águila did not want to comment, as it is an operation that has not yet been officially announced by the group. "We are a publicly traded company and I still cannot say anything about the Miramar," he said, after pointing out that this hotel will be "a fantastic complement" to the Grand Hyatt Barcelona, for being located in a completely different area, in Montjuïc, and being oriented to a more leisure public than congresses and incentives (MICE). The Unbound Collection, Alila and Park Hyatt are some of the brands that could fit with the iconic establishment.
Objective: double presence in the Spanish market
Hyatt's commitment to the Catalan capital is part of an ambitious growth project in the EMEA region, which includes one hundred countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Specifically, the corporation has already signed contracts to open new hotels that will add 16,000 new beds in the region in the next three to five years.Of this figure, between 7% and 10% of the projects will be in Spain, where Águila aims to "be able to double" the chain's presence in five years. In the Spanish market, Hyatt now has 50 properties operating with eight brands, which constitutes "the fourth largest portfolio in Spain by number of rooms." Trained at Esade, Águila was hired by Hyatt to lead this expansion plan two years ago. The executive came from the Apple Leisure chain and, previously, had been the founder of Alua Hotels & Resorts, director of operations for Grupo Orizonia, and a member of Carlyle's investment team.The transformation of Hotel Sofia into the new Grand Hyatt Barcelona Hotel comes after, exactly one year ago, the Spanish management company Blasson Property Investments and the French insurance group AXA bought this luxury establishment located on Avenida Diagonal for 180 million euros. The seller was the Canadian investment group Brookfield which, in 2021, in the midst of the hotel crisis caused by the pandemic, had bought the main assets of the Barcelona chain Selenta for 440 million euros. Previously, Selenta, which belonged to the Mestre family, had carried out a costly comprehensive renovation of the old Hotel Princesa Sofía to reposition it in a higher segment, reopening it in 2018 under the Sofia brand.
"The opening of the Grand Hyatt Barcelona excites us greatly; a luxury brand of these characteristics does not fit in just any hotel," Águila emphasized, after recalling that in the EMEA region there are only five establishments that bear this seal. In Spain, there is one in Murcia, La Manga Club, and the rest are in Berlin, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi.
As the renovation is so recent, the new owners, Blasson and AXA, have made a minimum investment of 20 million to adopt the Grand Hyatt brand, a budget that, according to the hotel director, Frank Sibille, who is also Hyatt's general manager for Spain, Morocco, and Algeria, has been primarily allocated to technology, Leed Gold sustainability certification, and focusing the hotel on the congress and convention business.
Chef Dani García will open a Leña restaurant in Barcelona
Another part of the investment will be allocated to the opening of two new restaurants, one of them led by Dani García. The renowned chef will open a steakhouse in October with one of his brands, Leña, with which he also operates in three hotels located in Marbella, Madrid, and Dubai: the Hotel Puente Romano, the Hotel Hyatt Regency Hesperia Madrid, and the St Regis Garden-The Palm Jumeirah, respectively.In parallel, Grand Hyatt Barcelona premieres Maymanta, a Peruvian restaurant located on the 19th-floor rooftop of the hotel, offering 360-degree views of the city. It will be led by chef Omar Malpartida.
The hotel, located a few meters from Camp Nou, has a total of 465 rooms, including 49 suites, in addition to a luxurious penthouse apartment. Another of its attractions is a spa, Oasis, championed by the Barcelona brand Natura Bissé. The Grand Hyatt Barcelona also features an outdoor pool with a terrace and has two other restaurants: Sofia Bar & Tapas and the Philosophia boutique cafeteria. Finally, the hotel is equipped with 22 meeting rooms occupying 3,400 square meters, which will allow it to serve the client profile the hotel will focus on: the corporate visitor who visits the city for business or to participate in some type of congress, fair, or incentive trip.
The Grand Hyatt currently employs 300 people—most with a long history at the hotel—and is expected to reach 400 when the Maymanta and Leña restaurants are up and running. In 2023, the hotel registered an average occupancy of 54% and this year, with the brand change, it expects to reach 64%.