The total investment, including purchase and refurbishment of the asset, was 16 million euro. In order to enter the Portuguese market, the hotel chain had the advice of consultant Magnus Kern, specialised in facilitating the entry of Spanish groups within the Portuguese market.
The new hotel, under the name Chic and Basic Gravity, has four stars and seventy rooms. It also features a bar, lounge and an Italian restaurant named Valentina’s from group Isabella’s. The 934 sqm building is located over a 951 sqm parcel.
The Catalan hotel group has been led by Hugo Bertrand since June 2018, when the Bertrand family purchased 100% of the company. The company signed an alliance with investment vehicle Salomon 1965, from brothers Serra Moreno which was established in 2015 and has invested in companies such as Glovo (whose share it sold in 2018), Sheltair, BePretty, Snap Fitness and Instamaki.
The company’s strategy is to seek urban hotels with between forty and one hundred rooms in European cities. The company currently owns six assets in Barcelona and one other in Amsterdam, besides the one it will open in Porto. The company pointed out that, with the touristic market normalised, it expects to profit 22 million euro in 2022.