THE Crowne Plaza Vilamoura, set to open in January 2010, will be the first Crowne Plaza hotel in Portugal.
The historic deal is the first franchise agreement between InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) and the Grupo Marope, a Portuguese property and hotel owning company. The hotel will create more than 200 jobs when it opens.
The new hotel is on the Vilamoura beach, near the casino, the Algarve’s main marina and 20 kilometres from Faro Airport.
Vilamoura is one of Europe’s most popular destinations for tourists and golfers. The new Crowne Plaza will have 327 rooms and suites, and conference facilities featuring 1,200 sq m of meeting room space. There are various options for meeting rooms including an executive boardroom for 12 people and 22 guest rooms that have been designed for use as meeting rooms when needed.
Entertainment facilities and restaurants include an al fresco restaurant open most of the year, a 1,000 sq m outdoor swimming pool and a driving range supervised by the hotel’s golf pro.
The hotel was previously the Vilamoura Beach Hotel. The construction team stripped the building down to its original steel structure and floors and then rebuilt the hotel.
Hylko Versteeg, director of development for Spain and Portugal, IHG, said, "Since introducing Crowne Plaza to Europe more than 20 years ago it has become one of the world’s fastest growing upscale hotel brands. Signing this deal with the Grupo Marope, which takes us into Portugal, is a milestone for us."