The Hotel Formentor's glamorous past can boast an A-list of Hollywood stars among its celebrity guests. The new hotel, which will be open to its first guests on Friday, will follow an American tradition. But this is now a marketing strategy. The North American market will be the principal market that the Canadian Four Seasons Group wishes to attract.
The strategy was outlined at a media day which was followed by an inauguration event on Tuesday; the Balearic tourism minister, Jaume Bauzá, was among those who attended.
The four main markets that the hotel's management intends pursuing will be, in order, North America, UK, Spain and Germany.
The first guests, whatever their nationality, will be paying an average of 1,200 euros per night. Only half of the 110 rooms will be open during the initial start-up, which will last three months up to November 15.
The hotel will reopen on March 15 next year, which is when all the hotel services will be fully up and running, such as the Shima restaurant, a fusion of Peruvian and Japanese cuisine. From March, the full workforce of over 400 will be active.
The hotel was at one point meant to have reopened in June last year. Delays have owed much to controversies surrounding the redevelopment. The total cost, including what was paid in acquiring the hotel from Mallorca's Barceló Group, is put at around 350 million euros. Four Seasons will have put some money into the project, but the principal financing has come from Spanish investment fund Emin Capital, who made the acquisition from Barceló.