AS THE dust settles on the first Hilton hotel opening in Portugal, it is down to business for Alessandro Cabella, General Manager of Hilton Vilamoura As Cascatas Golf Resort and Spa. He spoke candidly to The Resident’s Natasha Smith about luxury tourism in the Algarve, the hotel’s facilities, timeshare and his role.
“I GUESS I am the maestro of the orchestra,” said Alessandro Cabella even though the orchestra has around 168 musicians!
He said his role is to ensure that the guests’ and the staff’s needs are met in full. He is also the overall controller of the financial expectations of the resort as well as running the daily operation.
Spread over four hectares, Hilton Vilamoura As Cascatas Golf Resort and Spa comprises a hotel, residential area for permanent residents, kids club and spa managed by Seven Spa. Two bars and three restaurants, Moscada, Cilantro and Aquarela, offer a choice of different foods and atmospheres to suit all tastes.
Clothes and golf shops as well as a car rental outlet illustrate the level of planning and care taken for the convenience of hotel guests. There is also a golf simulator, which is the only one in Portugal today, according to Cabella and there is the 18-hole Pinhal golf course next to the hotel.
The hotel also caters for business functions with 1,400sqm of conference rooms and a business centre.
Something special
Part of the Hilton brand is the Grand Vacation Club, which is available in many of the company’s hotels. It involves the purchase of an apartment for a certain period of the year.
“It is not like buying an apartment. It is more like a membership to potentially thousands of apartments all over the world,” said Alessandro Cabella. What is offered is an exchange programme to other Grand Vacation Club apartments in different destinations and, in that sense, “it does not work like a regular timeshare”.
He believes that Hilton Vilamoura As Cascatas Golf Resort and Spa is something special in the Algarve.
“The resort that has been envisioned has the capacity to raise the bar of luxury tourism in the Algarve”, he said. “We are one of the groups that are investing in the region.”
He recognises the strength of the competition but he believes that the internationally recognised Hilton brand will be a factor which raises it above the rest.
“Our main objective is people and team members. We invested a lot of time and money in necessary training. We invest in quality of service,” he said. The Algarve has “a huge margin for improvement” in terms of expanding its target markets. According to Cabella, tourism in the Algarve has been very dependent on Anglo-Saxon markets in the past, but “we have everything to offer the French and Italian markets” as well.
He said that Hilton believed in the growth of the Algarve as a destination and, with the hotel, “we are betting, thanks to Imocom (partner and developer), that the Algarve will grow tremendously in the luxury tourist market”.
He added that Vilamoura is considered the largest European development and what has been planned for the area justifies the presence of a Hilton.
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