Concession Agreement for Hotel Turismo da Guarda Signed

4 May 2018

The concession agreement was signed today by the “President of Turismo de Portugal, Luís Araújo, and by the representatives of the consortium MRG Property and MRG Construction.”

The concession agreement for the MRG group’s rehabilitation of the Hotel Turismo da Guarda was signed today, with a total planned investment of approximately seven million euros, according to the Secretary of State for Tourism.

The concession agreement was signed today by Luís Araújo, the President of Tourism of Portugal, and by representatives of the consortium MRG Property and MRG Construction, the office of the Secretary of State for Tourism, Ana Mendes Godinho, announced in a press release sent to the Lusa news agency.

The concession, which was elaborated under the Revive program, is for a 50-year period, and the rehabilitation of the property is estimated to cost around seven million euros, the note stated.

“The consortium is committed to building a hotel that will occupy at least 55% of the gross building area”, with plans for a “four-star boutique hotel, designed around the theme of snow, with 50 rooms and other facilities such as a spa (which will also be open to local residents) and restaurant,” the office of the Secretary of State for Tourism emphasised.

According to the press release, the new unit, which will also include a training aspect, intends to focus on environmental sustainability, using LED lighting and solar water-heating.

“This is another important milestone in the development of the Revive program which will resolve a problem that has been dragging on since 2012. Revive will thus allow such an important and iconic property in Guarda to return to active life,” Secretary Godinho noted in the press release.

According to the website of the Cultural Heritage General Directorate (DGPC), the Hotel Turismo da Guarda, which has been vacant since 2012, was designed in 1940 by the architect Vasco Regaleira. The building was completed in 1958, during the Estado Novo (a fascist dictatorship in Portugal), and was considered one of the most iconic buildings in the city of Guarda.

The interiors have plastered walls, polychrome tile floors, granite tile flooring and ceilings plastered with frescos that imitate the technique in the 18th century, while Portuguese tiles and granite masonry were used on the exterior, “as was common in the Beira Alta region,” the DGPC stated.

“In 2015, two initiatives were launched, aimed at the sale of the hotel, but conditions failed to attract any interested parties,” the Secretary noted, adding that that the property’s incorporation into the Revive program will allow it to become an “economic asset.”

The latest competition for the Hotel Turismo da Guarda concession was the third to be launched under the Revive program, following the São Paulo Convent in Elvas and the Pavilions of the D. Carlos I Park in Caldas da Rainha.

Since then, public tenders have also been launched for the Paço de Valverde in Évora, for the Colégio de São Fiel, in Castelo Branco, and for the Coudelaria de Alter in Alter do Chão. Additional auctions are expected for “the Santa Catarina fort, in Portimão, the Convent of Santa Clara, in Vila do Conde, and the House of Morocco in Idanha-a-Nova,” the office of the Secretary of State for Tourism concluded.

Original Story: Jornal Econômico / Lusa

Translation: Richard Turner