ARTICLE #45 - 1 JULY, 2018
"EL LODGE - MARBELLA CLUB AMONGST THE BEST LUXURY HOTELS OF THE WORLD"
As we mentioned before, in the article: “How to choose the right property developer?”, Marbella Club Group is also the owner of a very iconic hotel that has a unique history which we would like to share with you.
El Lodge is located in the Sierra Nevada, and it benefits from spectacular scenery and has been an inspiring story for many.
It is located in the ski area that starts at 2,100m and rises to 3,300m, from which one can see the Mediterranean Sea on a clear day.
El Lodge was originally built in the mid-1970s in the hope that Juan Carlos, then Spain’s new king, might make use of it. His presence was to bring the rich and famous to the young resort.
While the king did not show too much of an interest (which would turn the building into a regular hotel later converted to an apartment block), there were other aristocrats in the vicinity who enjoyed the region’s attractions.
Alfonso von Hohenlohe-Langenberg was a godson of Juan Carlos’s grandfather, Alfonso XIII, and he founded the Marbella Club, now the flagship on MC Hotels. Together with his son, Prince Hubertus, he had a great ambition to have a luxury boutique hotel up in the mountains of Sierra Nevada.
Both father and son dreamt of a life, in which one could swim in the sea before breakfast and be on the slopes by noon.
What happened between the 1970s and today is because of the work of Daniel Shamoon, who finally realised Prince Alfonso’s dream.
He had fallen in love with the property years ago but was unable to buy it for the best part of a decade. Finally, in 2012, together with his father who had led a consortium of investors to buy Marbella Club in 1990, they managed to purchase the property.
One would imagine that all ended well in 2012. However, only just into its second season of operation, the hotel was ruined due to a fire that had ignited in one of the chimneys.
Because of the location of the hotel, in high mountains and 40km away from the closest city of Granada, it took two hours for the fire brigade to arrive at the hotel. When they eventually did, the building was destroyed…
Because of the vast amount of emotions and finances that went into opening the hotel, the owners were determined that they will rebuild the hotel and perhaps even improve it.
“In a way, it gave us an opportunity to make it even better,” said Daniel Shamoon. Almost two years after the blaze, the hotel reopened in December 2015.
They really did improve the look of the hotel and made the maximum use of its spectacular views. This aspect was also very important for choosing optimal location for the development of Marbella Club Hills.
The old timber structure was completely replaced with a concrete construction, clad in exquisitely joined rustic pine and chequerboard squares of rough-hewn granite.
The effect is rather spectacular, as the interior design is done by the Andrew Martin London design practice.
As a result, the hotel is now featured amongst 520 small luxury hotels of the world,(SFL Group), where only the very best hotels are accepted.
The SFL group highlights exclusive hotels in 8 different countries and has been awarded the British Travel Awards in the last three consecutive years.
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