News yesterday that Monchique’s Longevity Wellness Resort, closed since 2014, has been taken over by a consortium with future management by a Scottish hotel and leisure group, invigorated the Algarve's leisure sector but further details of the investment revels that two further hotel puchases are soon to be announced, according to the Publituris news service.
Vale d'Oliveiras Quinta Resort and Spa near Carvoeiro may also be part of the package as may Vale de Ribeira in Portimão.
As for the plans in Monchique, Macdonald Hotels & Resorts is to rebrand the old Longevity Wellness Resort as the Macdonald Monchique Resort & Spa with management keen to reopen the hotel in the second half of 2016 after a refit.
The original hotel opened in 2010 and had cost €40 million. It closed in 2014 and the estimated €5 million deal to bring it back to life is a partnership between the State-led Discovery Portugal Real Estate Fund, active in real estate assets in Portugal since September 2012, the Fundo Revitalizar Sul which owns the site and additional funding from Millennium BCP and Turismo de Portugal.
The financial arrangements are not yet clear but the main thing is that the hotel is to reopen. The deal for the hotels in Carvoriro and Portimão has yet to be divulged.
Macdonald Hotels & Resorts owns or operates 45 hotels and 10 resorts in the UK, Ireland, Spain and Portugal, and is a specialist operator of golf courses, luxury spas and leisure resorts.
Pedro Seabra from the Discovery Portugal Real Estate Fund commented, "the opening of Macdonald Monchique Resort & Spa is a further important milestone," and notes the critical support of the various partners to raise "the necessary capital to invest in the infrastructure, which is urgently needed so that we can operate at full potential, adding quality and a distinctive offering to the Algarve as a destination."
Simon Jackson, the CEO of Macdonald Resorts Ltd, said "We are proud and delighted to have been chosen by the Discovery Fund to develop this partnership. We applaud their substantial investment in this unit, and we share the vision and the ambitious goal of placing this project at a high level of international recognition."
Macdonald Monchique Resort & Spa will have 190 suites, a spa, restaurants, bars, indoor and outdoor pools, a gym, a kids club, a cinema, a conference room and various outdoor activities. Jackson expects the hotel to reopen this summer.
In high season, the hotel will need about 150 employees, a much needed boost to employment in the Monchique area.
