The Algarve looks for differentiation in its Hotel offer.

Faro council has signed a contract that will see the creation of a new four-star hotel take shape in the Faro parish of Santa Bárbara de Nexe.

By signing the contract with developers RGM – Empreendimentos Turísticos e Desporto, Lda, the council has given its OK to the construction of the 160-bed hotel project that will also comprise a nine-hole golf course, swimming pools, lakes and tennis courts. The Monrepos Resort is to be built in Palhagueira, Gorjões, in the parish of Santa Bárbara de Nexe. The council recalls that under the Algarve’s current land plan no building is allowed to take place on rural terrain, with the exception of isolated hotels.

Faro has granted a maximum of a 160 new bed-resort to be built through that loophole. The council describes the project as being of maximum importance to boosting tourism in the municipality’s interior area.
Covering an area of 13.4 hectares, the architectural draft of the hotel shows it will follow a modern, contemporary design.

“It is a quality product that is so important for boosting the region’s tourism, in particular in its interior”, and is “directed at a niche market of quality, from a sustainable perspective”, Faro Town Hall said in a statement.
With the decision, the council also believes it is adding value to the parish of Santa Bárbara de Nexe, as it will “allow the number of permanent residents to be increased as well as increasing the number of direct and indirect jobs to be created.”

Is the Algarve ready for the new Age?

Quinta da Romaneira sold, 
Seely increases stake
Friday 11 January 2013 by Jane Anson in Bordeaux

Quinta da Romaneira, one of the Douro Valley's largest estates, covering 400 hectares with 85 hectares planted to vines, has been sold by investment group IDI.

'A great deal': Christian Seely in the Romaneira vineyard

The transaction was completed on December 31; the main buyer has not been named but it has been confirmed that AXA Millésimes chief Christian Seely has increased his personal stake, and will continue to run the estate, as he has done since IDI bought the property in 2004. Antonio Agrellos is to continue as consultant winemaker.

‘Christian Seely will remain managing director of AXA Millésimes and Quinta do Noval (the Axa Millésimes Portuguese wine estate) as well as managing director of Quinta da Romaneira, a position he already held under the ownership of IDI,’ Wine Bankers, the Paris investment specialist which oversaw the deal, confirmed.

The buyer is a private, non-Portuguese investor, and Seely himself remains a part-owner, increasing his personal stake. Seely confirmed that AXA Millésimes is not the purchaser.

The other shareholders have now sold along with IDI. The total sale price has not been released.

IDI invested €11.8m in the estate, renovating it and building a hotel which was voted in the world’s top 20 vineyard hotels by the Times newspaper in 2010. Over the past two years, in-bottle sales have tripled.

Single quinta ports from Romaneira were auctioned by Christie’s in 1872, the first recorded ports of this kind to be sold at auction. Today, Quinta da Romaneira produces award-winning AOC Douro and Port wines.

‘It has been a good deal for all the original investors, and a great deal for Romaneira,’ Seely told Decanter.com. ‘I am delighted to be associated for the long term with my new partner, and to be able to develop the huge potential of Romaneira in the years to come.’