The boutique rural hotel Pensão Agrícola, in Tavira, Algarve, has now been acquired by US investors, a deal accompanied by Athena Advisers, representing the buyer, and CBRE, representing the owners of the hotel, the GUPA group, also owner of Hospedaria.
Between Tavira and Cacela Velha, the Pensão Agrícola has six suite-style rooms, three of which are in the main house and the rest in the old stables and outbuildings of the original 1920s farmhouse. The former property of the Silva Gomes family has a total of one hectare, between building area and surrounding orchards. Since its opening in 2015, Pensão Agrícola has been featured in several publications such as Condé Nast Traveller, Vogue, Monocle or Wallpaper. It will remain in operation until October.
With this deal, the GUPA company has undergone an internal restructuring, and the current owner of the entire group, including the Pensão Agrícola trademark, Rui Liberato de Sousa, will lead the group and its new projects.
The new owners will use the property as a family residence during their stay in Portugal and will continue to operate the property as a tourist accommodation with the country house concept.
David Moura-George, managing director of Athena Advisers in Portugal, commented in a statement: "We are very pleased with the completion of this deal and that we have managed to meet the expectations of our client, who was looking not for a pure income product, but for an investment that would allow him to spend seasons in Portugal with his family. Together, we were able to look at this fantastic boutique hotel in the eastern Algarve and realise its full potential for the purpose they wanted".
The managing director also adds that "this proves that Americans, especially Californians, are still very attracted to Portugal and our real estate, with these buyers moving to other regions of the country, outside the usual cities of Lisbon and Porto".
For his part, Duarte Morais Santos, Head of Hotels at CBRE Portugal, emphasises that "it is true that the investment market tends to look for larger units with other characteristics, but when we were faced with this remarkable property with a unique concept developed by its owners, we could not help but look for the best strategy for placing it on the market". He believes that "it is a unique and special product and it was necessary to find a market niche that recognised the value of 'own use' added to that of tourism exploitation. Thus, through the partnership with Athena it was possible to reach a buyer with an ideal profile, thus ensuring a successful and beneficial transaction for all parties involved".
