Derby Hotels multiplies its investments after declaring the pandemic crisis overcome. The Barcelona family group has just completed an important improvement project for one of its two hotels in Madrid, the Villa Real, and has begun work on an ambitious renovation of its London hotel, The Caesar, in which it plans to invest 12 million pounds (14 million euros) to reposition its category and reduce the number of rooms.
In parallel to these two hotel projects, the company led by Joaquim Clos will also give a new impulse this summer to Barcelona Apartment, its tourist apartment division, with the inauguration of the Europa Barcelona Apartment building, located next to Plaza Europa in L'Hospitalet. It is a newly constructed building with 22 apartments ranging from 35 to 80 square meters, with capacity for three to six guests.
This is the eighth complete apartment building to be incorporated into Barcelona Apartment, but, on this occasion, the property is not owned by Derby Hotels, but by a development partner who has signed a management contract with the Clos family's company, thus setting a first foot in L'Hospitalet. "The Barcelona market is already well covered, but we consider the Plaza Europa area very interesting, which is new for us. It is an area that is very well connected and attracts both leisure tourists and professional visitors who attend the Fira de Barcelona trade shows," explains Clos.
"We are not the owners; but we have been in charge of directing the work, which has involved an investment of between 4.5 million and 5 million euros, and now we will be responsible for operating the apartments through Barcelona Apartment," adds the businessman. According to Clos, the work has just been delivered and the forecast is to be able to welcome the first guests from August 15. "We have very good expectations, with occupancy rates already reaching 40% for the first weeks," Clos anticipates.
The Europa Barcelona Apartment building is located on Prat de la Manta street in L'Hospitalet and guests staying at the establishment will be able to visit the Egyptian Museum of Barcelona, owned by the owners of Derby Hotels, for free.
Barcelona Apartment was born in 2001, when Derby Hotels launched a first building of tourist apartments in the Born to diversify its hotel activity. Today, this division integrates the Aparthotel Aramunt, located on Muntaner street; the Aparthotel La República, on Pujades street; the Aparthotel Allada, in the Born; the Apartamentos Gran de Gràcia; the Apartamentos Milà, in Milà i Fontanals; the Apartamentos Val, on Valencia street; and the Apartamentos Villarroel, all of them in Barcelona; to which the Europa complex, in L'Hospitalet, is now added. The eight complexes exceed one hundred rooms.
Some of these immuebles of the Barcelona Apartment line are owned by the group or shared with other partners, and others belong to third parties. "We are a good option for owners of vertical buildings who are looking for an expert management company like the Derby Hotels group," argues Clos.
Under the Derby Hotels Collection brand (which encompasses ten establishments in Barcelona) the company also manages apartments, but with a much higher level of service, as guests have the same amenities as in a hotel. These are the luxury apartments Suites Avenue (Paseo de Gràcia), and the establishments Balmes Residence and Arai, on Mallorca and Avinyó streets, respectively. In parallel, in the Catalan capital Derby Hotels owns the hotels Claris, Bagués, Granados 83, Gran Derby, Balmes, Derby and Astoria.
Investments in Madrid and London
In parallel, the company has two hotels in Madrid (Villa Real and Urban) and two others located in London (The Caesar) and in Paris (Banke). In total, the group reached a turnover of 70.3 million euros in 2022, a figure that represents a growth of 134% compared to the 30 million in 2021, still heavily affected by the health crisis. The number of Derby Hotels employees exceeds 800 people.
Once the work in L'Hospitalet is completed, the major project that Joaquim Clos has in hand is the remodeling of the central London hotel The Caesar, located just minutes from Hyde Park, in the district of Bayswater. It is a four-star boutique hotel with 140 rooms that will now be reduced to 120 to improve the establishment's amenities. "When we bought it, we already reduced the rooms from 160 to 140, but now we are undertaking the first major renovation of the hotel, to give it that touch that Derby hotels have," says the group's director.
The project, which will allow The Caesar to be repositioned to a superior four-star category, will involve an investment of 12 million pounds (14 million euros) and the works are expected to be fully completed in September 2024, although the first phase will already be ready next October.
Finally, Derby Hotels acaba de invertir un millón de euros en la reforma de la quinta planta del Hotel Villa Real de Madrid, que acaba de estrenar una terraza con piscina y se han hecho también algunas habitaciones nuevas, como una gran suite. "We have renovated the executive floor and eliminated five duplex rooms to be able to open a terrace with a pool, an amenity that until now this hotel did not have, but was very much needed. It is a project that adds significant value to the establishment," concludes Clos. With a five-star category and more than one hundred rooms, el Villa Real is located in the central Plaza de las Cortes of the Spanish capital, in front of the Congress of Deputies and just a few meters from the Puerta del Sol.