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Palladium Strengthens ‘Only You’ With New Hotel In Madrid

24 February 2016 – Cinco Días

The Palladium group is strengthening its presence in Madrid with the launch of a second Only You hotel. The four-star property, located opposite Atocha train station, will have 206 rooms and is expected to open its doors in June.

The hotel is following in the footsteps of the first Only You hotel, located on Calle Barquillo in Madrid, which has become one of the iconic boutique establishments in the city. “We want to operate a dynamic model under the umbrella of the Only You chain, to serve both a hotel with 100 rooms, as well as one with 250 rooms”, said Juan Serra yesterday, the CEO of Only You and Ayre Hoteles, the urban division of the Palladium group, in which El Corte Inglés holds a 50% stake and which recorded double digit growth figures last year.

In this way, the Group has established a period of between six and ten months to analyse the evolution of its brand and begin its expansion. To drive its growth, Palladium will evaluate the conversion of some of its hotels, possibly including its property in Valencia, as well as its management model. According to Abel Matutes Prats, the CEO of Palladium, the group may also extend its brand “to several Spanish and European cities over the next five years, and we are not ruling out certain Latin American capital cities”. “We have built the foundations for growth and that is what we intend to do”, said the executive.

The future hotel, which will employ around 60 people, has received an investment of around €38 million, to finance the purchase of the property and its renovation. The opening of the establishment will also coincide with the extension of the hotel on Calle Barquillo, to include 55 new rooms.

The Palladium group, which recorded revenues of more than €500 million last year, is also working on the construction of its second Hard Rock Café, in Tenerife, where it will invest around €80 million and which is expected to be ready in November. Moreover, it will spend another €700 million on three hotels in Cancun, one of which will operate under the Usuahïa brand. This growth is being financed primarily using own funds.

Abel Matutes also acknowledged that the company is currently evaluating the Socimi (company structure) formula, at a time when the group owns all but three of its hotels, but he highlighted that this analysis is at “an embryonic stage”. And he said that the group will focus its investment on America over the next few years.

Original story: Cinco Días (by Laura Salces)

Translation: Carmel Drake