DEMOLITION WORK began in Praia da Rocha this week to bring the Algarve’s first tourist hotel, Hotel da Rocha, built in 1906, to the ground. The total demolition will take around six weeks to complete, while work to construct a new hotel on the site is expected to begin in September.
Representing an investment worth 18 million euros, the project foresees the construction of a 157-bed, four-star hotel by the RR Group, which will boast a modern architectural design.
It is the first time that a hotel will be totally rebuilt in the Algarve, a fact that has recently been highlighted by the Group’s general manager, Paulo Neves. “By building this new hotel, we are going to raise the standard of accommodation available in the Praia da Rocha area,” he said.
The decision to demolish the two buildings that comprised Hotel da Rocha was taken due to the fact that they had become quite degraded in recent years. Owing to its poor condition, it could no longer compete on the international market. Fozterra, the company that was responsible for the high profile demolition of the Tróia towers, as well as the raising of Estádio das Antas, is in charge of the project.
Neves assures that everything is being done to ensure that there is minimal dust and mess as a direct result of the demolition work, so as not to inconvenience residents and tourists in the beachfront area.
Hotel da Rocha was the first seaside tourist hotel in the Algarve, built at the beginning of the 20th century. Only in the 50s was another hotel built in the Praia da Rocha area, the Bela Vista. Hotel da Rocha was refurbished and extended on two occasions (in 1932 and 1969) and was once a very famous and popular hotel.
Football stars to invest in Alvor
As well as the new hotel due to be built on the old site of Hotel da Rocha, the RR Group also owns Hotel Júpiter and Club Amarílis in Praia da Rocha, and is currently planning to build a 400-bed, four-star hotel in Alvor. According to Paulo Neves, 40 million euros will be invested there, “in a partnership deal with football stars Cristiano Ronaldo, Deco, Ricardo Carvalho, Tiago and Paulo Ferreira”.
