Ownership of Portugal-based hotel company Martinhal Family Hotels & Resorts is focused on paving the way for the next generation.
Chitra Stern, CEO, owner and founding board member of family office Elegant Group, whose ownership vehicles include Martinhal Family Hotels & Resorts, is on a mission to share what she loves about travel, tourism, hospitality and real estate to the next generation via good hotel-keeping, education and encouraging innovation, creativity and citizenship.
She's doing this along with her Swiss husband Roman Stern, founder, owner and board member of Martinhal Family Hotels & Resorts. Roman, an Anglo-Swiss national who was born in Singapore, is passionate about bringing people and ideas together.
Speaking to Hotel News Now, Chitra Stern said the firm thinks about hotels and hospitality in a different way.
“We’re catalysts, not hoteliers,” she said, adding she does not assume her children to be the next generation of management for the family office.
Martinhal’s current upscale and luxury hotel portfolio is all in Portugal and owned in-house. It consists of the 37-room Martinhal Lisbon Chiado; 37-room Martinhal Sagres Beach Family Resort, which also has 150 residences; 60-villa Martinhal Quinta do Lago Family Resort; and 82-room Martinhal Lisbon Oriente.
The Martinhal Lisbon Oriente is in the Parque das Nações business district of the Portuguese capital, a district that encapsulates the notion of a “15-minute city,” a place where all necessary services and offerings take no more than a quarter of an hour to reach.
The firm also has a series of upscale, Martinhal-branded rentals and long-stay residences, with its branded-residence offerings in Parque das Nações being the first for the country.
Its other development projects include bespoke business headquarters for international firms working in Portugal and even an education establishment, the United Lisbon International School, a school for ages 3 to 18 that currently has more than 600 students.
At the center of Edu Hub Lisbon, a new campus with education, businesses and homes, ULIS’ plan is to expand to accommodate up to 1,200 students.
Having opened in 2020, last year marked the graduation of its first year of international baccalaureate students.
“We feel it is a very strong niche to be in family luxury, and there are no such brands going into the western Algarve,” Chitra Stern said, referring to Portugal’s most popular beach and tourism destination, which runs along the south coast of the country.
She added the firm always has been innovative.
“We have a greenfield mentality. We were one of the first to adopt Facebook and digital marketing, and while we had the confidence in our brand, we retained good relationships with tour operators,” she said.
The firm started by acquiring nonperforming loans between 2012 and 2017, and it's now thinking about how it can sustainability grow and remain future-proof.
“We are speaking of franchises and manchises. Watch this space,” she said. “Our sweet spot would be between 80 and 100 rooms.”
Golden days
There has always been a rivalry between Portugal and its Iberian neighbor Spain — in soccer, in history and in inbound hotel investment.
Chitra Stern said over the past 10 years, there has been a great deal of inbound investment into Portugal.
“A lot of that was based on the Golden Visa scheme, which has ended in terms of real-estate acquisitions but continues in terms of funds. In my opinion that [ending] was the wrong move,” she said.
“Portuguese tax policy is progressive, but taxes are high, as they are anywhere in the European Union,” she added.
Investment will follow increased airlift, she said, noting that Portuguese national carrier TAP just announced a flight to Los Angeles, and flights from Newark, New Jersey — an airport serving the New York City metropolitan area — flies to Faro on The Algarve.
Abeunt studia in mores
Chitra Stern said at the heart of the firm’s decisions and work is to create a legacy, not solely for themselves but for the next generation.
"Things happen slower in Portugal, but I am surprised and delighted as Portuguese people are still thanking us for our contributions," she said.
Recently she was awarded with the Silver Medal of Merit by the Portuguese government for services to tourism and hospitality.
Appreciation is also being extended from their involvement in higher learning in the country.
“There are not enough international schools. We are advocates for lifelong learning, keeping talent and creating culture,” she said.
Getting hands dirty in such non-hotel projects reinforces Martinhal’s strategy and performance, she said.
“Being involved in other real estate asset classes strengthens your skill set as a developer, helps you be at the leading edge,” she said, adding in 2027, Edu Hub Lisbon will add hybrid-hotel accommodation, mostly single-room occupancy for approximately 400 students.
Future-proofing means being green, she added.
“The school will have BREAM+ certification, which is very difficult to obtain, but it is the right choice. Europe has a choice now, and part of that is to prioritize humility and education,” she said.