Marbella is stepping up the project to build Spain’s first Waldorf Astoria hotel

It will be a five-star luxury hotel with 120 rooms and one- to four-bedroom apartments, representing an investment of 175 million euros, according to figures provided by the mayor, Ángeles Muñoz, who has welcomed this “major investment” and this “commitment to a tourism model based on quality and excellence”. Initially, the project had been announced as including 120 villas that would be served by the hotel (as ‘branded residences’), but the mayor announced that the project will ultimately not incorporate residential use and will retain its focus on tourism and sport.

The development is planned for an area of around 687,000 square metres, within which the project site covers approximately 8.9 hectares. “The hotel complex will have a total floor area of 80,000 square metres, adopting a low-rise, low-density design that is fully integrated into the surrounding environment,” explained Muñoz.

The mayor explained that the project includes, in addition to the hotel, a clubhouse, dining facilities and retail and sports areas, “forming a tourist facility linked to the activities of Marbella Golf”. “We are talking about a fully integrated hotel, of low height and with a very low density on the site; the project is in line with Marbella’s needs and with the model of the city championed by the town hall,” she emphasised.

The mayor, who was accompanied by the councillor for the Las Chapas district, María José Figueira and the managing director, Carlos Alcalá, recalled that the project stems from the agreement reached by Higuerón with Waldorf Astoria, one of the Hilton Group’s leading international hotel brands. “They were particularly keen to make a significant investment and to establish the Waldorf Astoria brand in Spain through Marbella,” said the mayor, who attended the formal presentation of the agreement held at the iconic Peacock Alley in New York on 12 December, following Higuerón’s acquisition of the Marbella Golf site. Muñoz highlighted the direct and indirect impact the project will have on the local economy, both during construction and subsequently through the operation and maintenance of these luxury facilities.

Muñoz has stated that the approval of the application for consideration and the declaration of municipal interest will enable the administrative processing of the project to continue and allow the necessary reports to be requested in order to move the case forward. Among the studies that must accompany the procedure are those relating to transport and landscape, with the aim of analysing how the development will integrate into its surroundings and its effects on infrastructure and transport links. Once these reports have been finalised, the application will be subject to the relevant public consultation period, after which the administrative procedure will continue until the relevant planning permission can be applied for to commence works.

Finally, the mayor emphasised that the town hall has been working with the developers and the municipal technical teams from the very outset to ensure that the proposal is in line with the town planning and the development model envisaged for Marbella.