–What does the opening of the El Castillo hotel mean for the group?
-The power to have hotel inside the old city wall It is a dream pursued for a long time, because although all our hotels have a particular history, there is no doubt that El Castillo is a benchmark and a milestone for being within a Site of Cultural Interest (BIC) and the building was the winery of the Castle as early as the 14th century. In fact, some vessels have appeared during the excavations that the archaeologists have allowed us to keep in their place of origin, and what we do is restore the history of the city and help everyone who visits us, and of course people from Marbella, can have at their fingertips the visibility of the history of the old town.
-What cataloging do you have?
–The Ministry of Tourism gives you the final rating, in this case 4 stars making it the first in the old town, and marks you a specialty that is that of monument and historical building. Staying is immersing yourself in the history of Marbella.
– When was the building acquired?
-The We acquired the El Castillo building in 2015 and it was in imminent risk of collapsing, so much so that the architects recommended us to tear it down because economically it was the best, but we wanted to maintain its original structure and personality. Translated economically, it made a forecast of structural reinforcement of around 110,000 euros became 985,000 on the whim of keeping the building as it was in its original state.
-What rehabilitation work has been done in the building?
–We started working at the end of 2016 and beginning of 2017, a long and laborious job because for To maintain that structure, we even had to set up a rebar workshop. in the building itself, because you had to reinforce absolutely all the columns and all the beams one by one It was like making an internal skeleton of the entire building in steel, with which each piece was special and everything was reinforced millimeter by millimeter and that was what made that extra million more expensive, but we are happy and satisfied because people value it.
–What type of public or target does the establishment have?
–It is desirable that it be of a medium-high or high economic level, but for me the vital thing is the cultural level, which yes or yes has to be high because in the end there are all kinds of people with money and we have already lived all possible marbellas . An tourism based simply on a high economic level is a mistake and it is not what Marbella should be, it should go coupled with a high cultural levelwhich is the public that we are having mainly American and North or Central Europe, which is the one that values being able to stay in buildings with a history, with a reality behind it and in an environment that allows them to relate to their people, who are the soul from the city.
-It is the third hotel of the group in the area…
-The first we opened was Maison Ardois, which is on Calle Ancha 9 and is a hotel that, according to the Marbella chronicler, Fernando Alcalá, stands on a house built by the Ardois family, who were co-owners of the old Marbella mines. The hotel has 9 rooms and opened in August 2021. After we opened the Hotel Santo Cristo in December 2021, which has 15 rooms and the restaurant has not opened because it coincided with the completion of El Castillo, we plan to open it in June.
-What other hotel projects do you plan in the city?
–There is a projected room in the former Marbella Music Conservatory, which is in Plaza Puente Ronda and will be called the Puerta de Ronda hotel. We will start the works in June and we are waiting for the provisional cataloging of the Board for the first 5 stars of the old town. There will be 8 rooms, the smallest of 62 square meters, and two or three will have their own terrace with Jacuzzi. The The last building we have acquired this year is in the Plaza de los Naranjos and we are juggling between a one room hotel or a restaurant.