RESORT SPA
TOM WALKER » NEWS EDITOR » SPA BUSINESS
Huge fl oor-to- ceiling windows throughout the hotel and spa open up the stunning views to guests
Sands of time
THE OPENING OF THE OITAVOS HOTEL AND SPA, PART OF A PORTUGUESE BEACH ESTATE, CAME 90 YEARS AFTER IT WAS FIRST ENVISIONED AND CHALLENGES TRADITIONAL DESIGN CONCEPTIONS
L
ocated in the sporting estate of Quinta da Marinha within the protected Cascais Sintra Natural Park on Portugal’s Estoril coast, the family- owned Oitavos hotel and spa
has a fascinating birth story. “All you see around you – the golf course,
the hotel, even the roads, trees and vegeta- tion – are the result of a 90-year-long family project,” says general manager Miguel M Champalimaud. “My great-grandfather Carlos Montez Champalimaud discovered this site in 1908 and bought 900 hectares (9sq km) of land here in 1920: when it was barren and dominated by sand dunes. His dream was to transform the wild and unin- habited landscape and establish a tourism and leisure resort here.” Partly due to delays caused by WWII, Car-
los never saw his dream become a reality, but his work was continued enthusiastically by his son, Carlos Sommer Champalimaud, who created a vineyard and an equestrian
centre aſt er the war. T e project was then completed by Carlos Sommer’s son Miguel (the father of Miguel M) who oversaw the design and launch of the Oitavos Dunes golf course (in 2001), a large health and racquet club (in 2004), and fi nally T e Oitavos hotel and spa in September 2010.
90-YEAR-OLD DREAM
Carlos Montez would be proud of the results – the health club has 4,000 paying members, and the golf course has gained international recognition. And at the centre of the impec- cably groomed fairways of the golf course sits the Champalimaud’s prize possession – T e Oitavos hotel and spa. T e hotel might have been fi rst envisaged
more than 90 years ago, but the fi nal result – a somewhat otherworldly steel and glass structure in the shape of the letter Y – is anything but traditional. Designed by Por- tuguese architect and artist José Amaral Anahory, the 142-bedroom hotel took four years to design and three years to build
54 Read Spa Business online
spabusiness.com / digital
to ensure that it met the family’s expecta- tions. In addition, the investment totalled €40m (us$51.4m, £33.1m), with funding coming from cash fl ow via other family busi- nesses, added to the selling of plots of land in Quinta da Marinha for residential devel- opment and a bank loan. Anahory was given a brief to “bring the
outside inside” and to make the hotel take a backseat to nature – rather than dominate it. His solution was to use large fl oor-to-ceiling windows throughout to open up the view to the guests. Nowhere is Anahory’s concept of creating bright, open spaces more evident than at the spa, which occupies the ground fl oor of the fi ve-storey building.
LET THE SUNSHINE IN
“Natural light is defi nitely our unique sell- ing point,” says spa manager Rita Rosado.
“Many spas, especially at hotels, are either underground, tucked in a basement or con- fi ned to a windowless space. Here we have opened the spa to the elements and, rather
SPA BUSINESS 1 2012 ©Cybertrek 2012
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100