Portuguese hotel group Pestana has begun construction of a ‘Pousada de Portugal’ (state-owned historic hotels run by the group) in the centre of Vila Real de Santo António.
The project was announced last year and, at the time, it was expected to open in the summer of 2018. However, it is only now moving forward, the local council has announced.
Representing a €3 million investment, the hotel will be divided into four buildings located in the town’s Marquês do Pombal square.
The works to transform the buildings into a hotel will last around a year while the buildings will be rented out to the group by the council for 30 years.
The hotel will feature 57 rooms, a restaurant and an events hall, and is expected to generate 30 new jobs.
Hopes are that the new hotel will help revitalise the historic centre of VRSA, a goal that the local council says it has already been working hard to achieve.
“The rehabilitation work we have already carried out to ensure the historic centre and its heritage are preserved were factors that contributed towards the investment of the Pestana group in our borough,” says local mayor Conceição Cabrita.
The historic centre is considered one of the ‘jewels in the crown’ of VRSA.
According to the council, the historic centre is one of the “best examples of the 18th century architecture and urbanism”. It was built shortly after Lisbon’s 1755 devastating earthquake with the same architectural and construction techniques used in the reconstruction of the Portuguese capital.
The centre is called a “núcleo pombalino” due to the building methods used by Sebastião de Carvalho e Melo, also known as Portugal’s famous Marquês of Pombal.
The new ‘Pousada’ will be the first to open in VRSA and the fourth in the Algarve. The other three are located in Estoi, Sagres and Tavira.
