Portugal’s Visabeira Group has opened a five-star hotel in the Rachadouro Cloister of the Alcobaça Monastery, in Western Portugal, as part of a €24.5 mln investment.
Located in the district of Leiria and dating back to the 12th century, the monastery is classified as a National Monument since 1910 and is part of the UNESCO World Heritage List since December 1989.
The Montebelo Mosteiro de Alcobaça Historic Hotel consists of 91 accommodation units (including single and double rooms, family rooms, suites and a master suite) facing the cloister or the city.
The hotel also offers a gastronomic restaurant of choice, spa and indoor pool, in addition to flexible spaces for congresses, banquets and meetings.
The rehabilitation project was signed by the architect Eduardo Souto Moura, holder of the Pritzker Prize, the most relevant international award in the world of architecture.
The project managed to highlight the virtuosity and quality of noble materials such as stone, wood, leather, steel, concrete and glass, in perfect union with the centuries-old roots of the building and the respect for the pre-existing and the Monastery's history.
A major challenge was to adapt the space to the comfort and security of a contemporary hotel experience, as part of an intervention that valued the social and cultural existence of the historic building, integrating it harmoniously with the functional needs of the hotel unit, without losing the spirit of the building.
Souto Mora was also responsible for the furniture design, especially developed for the hotel and for the decoration of the space.
Montebelo Hotels & Resorts already owns six hotels in Portugal and Mozambique and is planning to open an eight hotel in Lisbon (Chiado) in January 2023.
