From east to west Algarve, several hotels are either being constructed, renovated or rebranded
The Algarve’s reputation as Portugal’s leading tourist destination continues to attract major hotel operators, who are investing hundreds of millions of euros in the region at an incredible pace. Several new hotels are already being built in the region, while others are just beginning construction or being renovated and rebranded.
From practically one corner of the Algarve to the other, from the coast to the lesser explored inland areas, there are hotels springing into existence. Others are being renovated or changing ownership or management. What’s common to all projects is the belief that the region’s hospitality industry still has plenty of room to grow.
Leading many of the new projects in the Algarve is the Mercan Properties Group, which took over Hotel Califórnia Urban Beach in Albufeira this year and is also developing six other hotel projects in the Algarve.
On Tuesday afternoon, the group laid the first stone of Lagos Marina Hotel, a tourist development just a stone’s throw away from the Lagos Marina, which will feature two hotels – the five-star Lagos Marina Hotel, Curio Collection by Hilton, with 189 rooms, and the four-star Hilton Garden Inn Lagos, with 90 rooms. Due to open in 2026, the development represents a €107.8 million investment and is expected to create 188 direct jobs.
“It is with great satisfaction that we witness the beginning of the construction of this ambitious project in Lagos, which once again clearly illustrates the commitment of the Mercan Properties Group to offer high-quality projects for our clients and, above all, for the regions where we invest, believing that they do justice to Portugal’s status as a world-class tourist destination,” said Jordi Vilanova, president of the Mercan Properties Group.
The group is also developing four other hotel projects in the Algarve – Alvor Beach Hotel, a sprawling five-star resort in the Torralta area of Alvor; Hotel Indigo Faro Ribeirinha in the region’s capital of Faro; Marriot Lagos, to be built near the Porto de Mós beach; and Hard Rock Hotel Algarve, a new luxury hotel due to be erected near Portimão’s Vau beach, featuring 275 rooms and suites and 150 apartments. Since 2015, the Canadian group has already invested over €1.2 billion in Portugal, divided amongst 32 tourism and hotels projects across the country.
Other Hilton and Marriot hotels are also scheduled to open in the Algarve in the coming years. In July, construction of a new €52.5 million five-star hotel started at Castro Marim’s Verdelago Resort. The 197-room Marriott hotel – which will feature six secluded suites set within the resort’s pine forest – is set to open in 2027 and create over 200 direct jobs. In the popular resort town of Vilamoura, a new Hilton hotel – Canopy by Hilton Vilamoura Marina – is set to open in 2026 under the Canopy by Hilton brand. Featuring 155 rooms and located 500 metres from Vilamoura beach, near the Vilamoura Marina, the hotel will also boast a restaurant and bar, as well as a spa, outdoor pool and fitness centre.
The new investments are not limited to tourist-favourites like Vilamoura, however. São Brás de Alportel, an inland Algarve municipality often left off the region’s main tourism itineraries, announced in September the greenlighting of a major €50 million project to build a massive tourist development with a capacity for 909 people.
The Herdade do Monte da Ribeira – Pêro de Amigos development, which includes the construction of a hotel, aparthotel, villas, green spaces and agricultural fields, marks the largest development licence ever granted in the area. It will be built on a 200-hectare estate located at the foothills of the Caldeirão mountains and along the banks of the Alportel stream, just four kilometres away from the town of São Brás de Alportel.
Further west in the municipality of Lagoa, the Água Hotels Group is planning to build a new four-star hotel near the soon-to-be-renovated Arade Congress Centre between Parchal and Ferragudo. The group will be investing €20 million in the new hotel, which is due to begin construction in 2025 and open in 2027.
Meanwhile, the Algarve’s Ombria Resort celebrated the highly anticipated opening of its Viceroy at Ombria hotel on October 1, featuring “76 luxe guestrooms and suites, 65 residences, and exceptional leisure facilities – all surrounded by miles of citrus groves, fig and carob trees, small farms, and villages with cobblestone streets” – marking yet another milestone for the Loulé-based resort.
A major ownership change is also taking shape in Quinta do Lago, where the five-star Conrad Algarve is reportedly being purchased by Quinta do Lago. An official announcement is yet to be made by Quinta do Lago or Conrad Algarve.
Still apparently stuck in bureaucratic limbo is the €302 million ‘eco-resort’ announced last year and planned to occupy a significant area of Portimão’s eastern riverside territory. Entitled Herdade do Arade, the resort was earmarked for the Morgado de Arge area, north of Portimão, and aimed to pave the way for the construction of hotels, tourist complexes, theme parks, a nautical centre, a campsite, riding centre, sports centre and seven reservoirs, comprising a total of more than 3,000 tourist beds. But since the plans were put up for public consultation, no further announcements regarding the advancement of the project have been made.
Hotel renovations
Several hotel renovation projects have also been announced in the Algarve. In February, PortoBay Hotels & Resorts announced it was partnering with the Humbria Group to carry out over €150 million-worth of renovations to the PortoBay Falésia and PortoBay Blue Ocean hotels in Albufeira, near the famous Falésia beach. António Trindade, executive president of PortoBay, said at the time that the investment included a “deep revamp” of both hotels which was due to begin before the end of this year.
Highgate Portugal, a real estate investment and hospitality management company, has announced the rebranding of four of its managed portfolio assets in the Algarve under the Marriott International umbrella.
Each located within the Salgados Beach resort destination in Albufeira, the newly rebranded Westin Salgados Beach Resort; The Residences at The Westin Salgados Beach Resort; Algarve Marriott Salgados Golf Resort & Conference Center; and Marriott Residences Salgados Resort will be the first Highgate-managed properties in Portugal to join Marriott International’s portfolio. Renovations are set to begin in late 2024 with reopenings of all four properties expected in 2025.
In Armação de Pêra, the beachfront Holiday Inn Hotel (previously the Hotel Garbe) is currently closed for major renovations and is expected (although as yet not confirmed) to reopen as another Hilton Group-managed property.
By MICHAEL BRUXO
