The year started well for Hotéis Heritage Lisboa, which has five units in the capital. According to Diogo Laranjo, general manager of this hotel chain, “so far we have achieved values above last year”. The volume of reservations was stronger at the start of 2024, specifically in the months of January and February, showing, explains the person in charge, “that there is a strong demand for travel and that people are willing to travel”.
Regarding the Easter period, it was good but Diogo Laranjo admits that the weather conditions did not help, even leading to “a slowdown in demand” so “we were not above last year”, he says, indicating a drop of three percentage points compared to to the Easter period of 2023. The official also clarifies that, traditionally, Easter “is always stronger when it is in April, and this year, in addition to the low temperatures, this was not the case”.
Therefore, and referring to the Easter period, with regard to prices charged at Heritage Lisbon Hotels, there were no increases compared to the previous year. But, in terms of the first half of the year, Diogo Laranjo points to a 7% increase in the average price.
As for the summer, the general manager of the hotel chain is optimistic, and guarantees that he is registering “good demand, above last year by around 10%”. The Heritage Lisboa Hotels strategy always involves “combining attractiveness with the differentiation of our spaces”. With five central units in the center of Lisbon, where guests can experience the city’s culture and heritage within each hotel, the group invests heavily in cultural partnerships, creating offers and programs with customers in mind. This is the case, for example, of free entry to the main museums in Lisbon, the National Museum of Ancient Art and the National Museum of Contemporary Art, as well as the offer of the musical “Laura”, on stage at Teatro Politeama.
Furthermore, investment in renovations is also part of the strategic plan of Hotéis Heritage Lisboa, which recently completed the renovation of Heritage Avenida da Liberdade, a work by architect and decorator Miguel Câncio Martins that aimed to update the concept of openness, in 2007. The intention was to maintain the concept of “a contemporary style linked to the traditional but happier and with a stronger connection with Avenida da Liberdade”, explains Diogo Laranjo. And so, the hotel now has shades of yellow and blue, with more plants and columns that evoke the bases of palm trees, as if the gardens of the avenue entered the hotel building.
By Inês Gromicho
