Redevelopment work on hotels in Playa de Palma starting this winter will cost some one hundred million euros. The largest investment is that of the hotel group Riu. It is spending 32 million on demolishing the Playa Park, which will be replaced by a new four-star hotel with 475 rooms.
The president of the hoteliers association, Francisco Marín, notes that this current wave of spending will bring the total investment over the past five years to 600 million euros. HM Hotels and the owners of the Cosmopolitan, Fontanelles, Aya and Playa Golf hotels are others undertaking work this winter. Marín says that the redevelopment is necessary in order to meet tour operator demand for increased quality and tourist satisfaction.
Since 2013, half of the hotel stock in Playa de Palma has been renovated. For the rest of hotels - two or three stars - it will be difficult for them to be renovated, Marín observes. There are 130 hotels in all in the hoteliers association; 65 of them have undergone or are undergoing refits and consequent increases in star rating. Marín believes that for those hotels which aren't being renovated a big opportunity has been missed to reposition them and to improve their quality of client.
Riu has committed 60 million euros for work at four hotels - the San Francisco, Bravo and Festival are the other three. With Playa Park, the new hotel will take the place of what has been a 362-room three-star.
As well as the hotel investments, the Palma Beach restaurant is being improved. Marín is grateful for this and also for initiatives by other restaurant proprietors. He is concerned, however, that not all businesses are going in the same direction and committing to adding value to the whole tourism offer in Playa de Palma.