Turismo de Portugal signed on Monday, the 14th, the lease agreement for Hotel Turismo da Guarda with Grupo Lince Hotels, putting an end to 16 years of closure of the property, which closed in October 2010. The contract has a duration of 50 years, with an option for the hotel group to purchase the building starting from the fourth year, for a value exceeding 6.8 million euros. The president of Turismo de Portugal, Carlos Abade, stated that "the Hotel Turismo chapter is closed" after several failed attempts over the years.
Grupo Lince Hotels won the public tender launched by Turismo de Portugal and plans to invest between 15 and 20 million euros in the refurbishment of the building designed by Vasco Regaleira and inaugurated on July 6, 1947. The group's administrator and CEO, Domingos Correia, stated that the project will be developed by architect Carvalho Araújo and that the objective is to reopen the hotel within two years, possibly as a five-star unit, with a spa and two swimming pools, targeting the Spanish and North American markets.
The mayor of Guarda, Sérgio Costa, recalled that there were five previous attempts to reopen the hotel, all of which failed, and stated that "the hotel does not reopen by decree," but now for the first time has a name, a contract, and a concrete date. The municipality considers that the highest city in Portugal lacked "a flagship hotel."
Also present at the ceremony, the Secretary of State for Tourism, Commerce and Services, Pedro Machado, congratulated himself on the process and stated that the hotel group demonstrates "an ambition that goes beyond what was perhaps the expectation created for this hotel," with the creation of more infrastructure and the transformation of spaces for greater comfort and convenience being anticipated.
