Review
Alàbriga Hotel & Home Suites – 2020 vision
SIMON GEORGE HEADS DOWN TO THE COSTA BRAVA TO HEAR HOW A FAMILY’S
FIVE-STAR TOUCH IS HONING A LUXURY HOTEL PROJECT FOR FUTURE EVENTS
argeting the luxury end of
the MICE market, five-star
Alàbriga Hotel & Home
Suites (serviced apartments)
exudes exclusivity, privacy, opulence and
glamour from its panoramic location
overlooking Sant Pol bay in S’Agaró, an
upmarket enclave on the Costa Brava, some
90 minutes’ drive from Barcelona.
Externally the hotel, which took five
years to build, resembles an elegant yacht
and all of the hotel’s 29 suites have sea
views. Internally, an ambience of eclectic
luxury reigns thanks to a mix of glitzy
design, chandeliers, coloured glass (from
Italy), contemporary art and deep rich
colours.
CMW was keen to hear about Alàbriga’s
MICE strategy, and to find out how things
have gone since its opening in July 2017.
Svetlana Scherer, who owns the hotel
with her German husband, began with a
top-down approach, explaining that to
maximise Alàbriga’s appeal, “our goal is to
make the hotel totally international”.
Attractions abound
For the incentives market, there’s no
shortage of appeal. The climate, scenic
location, beautiful beach and leisure
activities on the doorstep – for example,
golf courses, tennis, horse-riding and
cycling, historic cities (Girona is only half
an hour away), culture and gastronomy –
mean that in high season Alàbriga sells
itself, as the hotel’s 80% occupancy level in
July and August attests.
But it is in the mid-lower season that
Scherer is looking for corporate clients to
fill the gaps.
So, what are the challenges? Scherer
flagged that on some of her sales trips to
Europe, she had encountered a perception
that Spain/the Costa Brava is not perceived
as a luxury destination even though there
are 15 Michelin starred restaurants in the
area.
Alàbriga is still in effect a new hotel and,
like many local hotels, it closes to the
general public (not to corporate clients)
from November until March before
reopening in Easter.
It is still feeling its way in terms of its
MICE strategy, with events staged to date
including, variously, a Conde Nast
three-day corporate training event last
year, fashion shows in the Galatea drawing
room, high-end jewellery and watch
displays (Panerai) and partnerships with
luxury car marques (McLaren, Aston
Martin). These latter events were helped by
the many scenic driving routes in the
region.
Alàbriga’s bespoke nature extends to its
pricing strategy for MICE events. As
The
climate,
scenic
location,
beautiful
beach and
leisure
activities on
the doorstep
mean that
in high
season
Alàbriga
sells itself.
Business Development Director Frank
Millard explains: “Because everything is
customised to our clients’ needs we do not
have set prices. We sit down with each
customer to tailor make it to their
requirements.”
The hotel is staging an event for Les
clefs d’or (an elite concierge service) on 24
November and a big charity event next
April that will bring top chefs to the hotel,
culminating in a gala dinner after a
two-day conference on the environment/
sustainability at the hotel.
But the ultimate aim, as Scherer and her
colleagues, Frank Millard and Xavier
Dausa, National Sales Manager, explain, is
to engineer complete buyouts of the hotel.
And next year promises to be a big year
for Alàbriga. Dausa says the plan is to start
renting out its serviced apartments,
including the penthouse suites, in earnest.
These will be longer terms rentals, for
anything from a month up to over a year.
Millard explains the aspiration: “We
would like to be the place to launch
high-end fashion brands, cars, watches, etc.
We would also like to expand to open an
Alàbriga in Ibiza or Marbella. Ultimately
we would like four Alàbrigas.”
Above:
Alàbriga”s
Seaclub
ISSUE 103
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CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD
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63