Maintaining its commitment to Portugal, the Mercan group has announced that it will invest a further 450 million euros in the opening of 8 new hotels located in the Lisbon and Algarve regions. If everything goes according to plan, construction will begin this year.
The information was provided by Miguel Gomes, Construction & Development General Manager of Mercan Properties, in an interview with Eco, according to whom these 8 hotel units will add up to 1,400 rooms or accommodations.
Miguel Gomes did not reveal the exact locations of the new hotels, but recalls that one of the first projects to be developed will be the first Hard Rock Hotel in the country, to be built on Vau beach, in Portimão. Scheduled to open in 2026, it will have 275 luxury rooms and suites and 150 apartments with the brand's personalized services, as well as a Kids Club, restaurants, bars, outdoor pools, spa, gym, stores, sports area and beach club. This project was announced last summer and is the result of a partnership between Mercan and Hard Rock International.
In addition to these 8 new hotels, the plans for 2024 include the opening of 3 other hotels before the summer. One of them is the Holiday Inn Express Porto-Boavista, with 91 rooms (21 million euros). In Évora, the Holiday Inn Express Évora is due to open, with 76 rooms (16.8 million euros). Both will be managed by InterContinental Hotels Group.
Another Holiday Inn is due to open in Beja, with 95 rooms, a similar investment of 16.8 million euros, which will be managed by AHM – Ace Hospitality Management, a company of the Mercan group.
With these new projects, Mercan Properties has a portfolio of 30 hotels in Portugal, in destinations such as Porto, Gaia, Matosinhos, Lisbon, Amarante, Santiago do Cacé, Éacute;vora, Beja and the Algarve.