The British hotel group InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has announced that by the end of summer it plans to revitalize its presence in Barcelona with the opening of an Intercontinental hotel, a brand that is not currently present in the city. It will not build a new establishment, but will remodel and reposition the current Crowne Plaza Hotel, located at the confluence of Lleida street and Rius i Taulet Avenue, next to the historic Montjuïc fairgrounds, to a higher category.
The Crowne Plaza, one of the other brands of the IHG group, has been closed for many months due to the pandemic, and this period has been used to promote a deep renovation to which 14 million euros will be allocated. The objective is to transform the establishment into a five-star hotel, compared to the four it had until now, and position it in the group's luxury hotel category with the Intercontinental brand.
The new establishment will have 273 rooms, with 17 junior suites and a presidential suite of almost 200 square meters. Due to the type of clientele it expects to attract and its location, there will be a lot of space, about 3,000 square meters, reserved for the organization of congresses and meetings, with a configuration of up to 18 rooms with capacity for 1,200 people.
Hotel Intercontinental Barcelona is preparing the opening of three restaurants ---one of them advised by a Michelin-starred chef--- and a cocktail bar and will have a terrace that can also host all kinds of events. Another of the proposals of this new five-star will be a 1,200 square meter spa. The establishment is expected to be equipped with the Biosphere sustainability and responsible tourism certificate. Technologically, it aims to be at the forefront, offering customers 5G services and experiences linked to augmented reality and virtual reality.
Currently, in Spain, IHG owns the emblematic Intercontinental Madrid Hotel, located on Paseo de la Castellana, and up to 27 more establishments with other brands, such as Indigo, Kimpton, Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza or Six Senses, a brand that will soon arrive in Ibiza. In the city of Barcelona, the hotel group, in addition to the now remodeled Crowne Plaza de Montjuïc, operates the Kimpton Vividor Hotel ---located on Calle del Duc, in the Gothic Quarter--- and the Indigo Barcelona Hotel, in Plaça Catalunya.
Another chain that trusts in the recovery potential of the Barcelona tourist brand and business tourism is the American giant Hilton, which has announced the opening, this summer, of the Hampton by Hilton Barcelona Fira Hotel, in this case located at Plaza Europa, 33, in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, next to the Gran Via exhibition center.
It is the first time that a hotel under the Hampton brand will open in the Barcelona area, positioned not in the luxury segment, but in the upper-midscale range of the market, aimed at business visitors who want to stay in a hotel with good service and quality rooms located in a strategic location, close to the airport and the fairgrounds.
The new Hampton by Hilton Barcelona will have eleven floors and 241 rooms and is expected to generate around 40 jobs. The building where the hotel will open in the coming months is owned by the ActivumSG Fund VI fund, managed by ASG Capital Management, very active lately in the hotel market of the Catalan capital. ASG has invested 40 million euros in building the hotel and has signed a long-term lease agreement with the Dutch company Borealis Hotel Group, which negotiated the franchise to display the Hampton by Hilton brand.
Borealis, in parallel, has entrusted the Spanish company Panoram Hotel Management with the management of the establishment, that is, the day-to-day operations. Panoram also manages the other Hampton by Hilton that exists in Spain, located in Alcobendas (Madrid), inaugurated last October. In addition, the multi-brand manager directs other Hilton establishments in the Spanish market, such as the Double Tree by Hilton Madrid Prado or the new Tapestry Collection by Hilton, in Atocha, which is expected to open this year.
Panoram —formerly Hoteles Temáticos— is a family business that manages a portfolio of ten hotels located in Madrid, Barcelona, and La Rioja. In the Catalan capital, it will double its presence with this new Hilton, as until now it only managed the Mercure Barcelona Condor, on Via Augusta. "This agreement means for us to continue advancing in hotel management agreements and strengthens our presence in Barcelona. With this new hotel, we will achieve to add value to one of the most important business areas of Catalonia, through a unique experience, thanks to the assured know-how of the Hampton by Hilton brand," highlights Guillermo Pérez-Palacios, general manager of the company.
Brian Betel (ASG): "Barcelona, we hope, will once again be one of Europe's most visited tourist destinations and a magnet for international conferences and trade fairs"The ASG fund, managed bySaul Goldstein, announced earlier this year thepurchase of the Nobu Hotel Barcelona, located next to Sants station, to the Selenta group for about 80 million euros. The manager alsopromotes the new Hard Rock Hotel, located in Port Forumand budgeted with 200 million. In total, ASG now adds four hotels in operation or under construction to the Catalan capital, with a total of 1,150 rooms. "This investment will offer our investors excellent exposure in a city that we expect will once again be one of Europe's most visited tourist destinations and a magnet for international conferences and trade fairs," highlighted one of the fund's managers, Brian Betel, when they acquired the Nobu.