The Fladgate Partnership and IdS make news

[Roy Hersh]

The Fladgate Partnership and Infante de Sagres were in the news. Here is a loose translation that was originally in Portuguese:

Five months after closing for renovation works, the Hotel Infante Sagres reopened this Monday, April 16, with another 15 rooms, totaling 85. Located in the downtown of Porto, in the vicinity of Avenida dos Aliados, the historic hotel unit was purchased by The Fladgate Partnership (TFP) in April 2016 from the former group Lágrimas, from the Júdice family.
 
The value of this business was not revealed, but the renovation of the hotel, which now employs 75 people directly (25 more than before the works), represented an investment of 8.5 million euros. It could be up to half a million more, but the construction of the spa had to be postponed because, once the project was licensed, the municipality classified the tenant Moreira da Costa as the historic store, the oldest potter in the city. Without agreement, the conflict will be settled in the courts.
 
Despite the setback - the Taylor's owner still unsuccessfully proposed maintaining the bookstore by releasing the basement where the stock is and accessing the spa - the general manager, Adrian Bridge, told Business that the hotel will be enlarged with six more rooms, and this construction may be advanced later this year. The expansion will be done through a building in the nearby Rua da Fábrica, which served as support for the works in recent months, for which the Port Wine group paid about one million euros last year.
 
Constructed by the commander Delfim Ferreira and inaugurated in 1951, the Infante Sagres is considered the oldest luxury hotel of the Invicta, claiming the title of first five stars of the city. It was the accommodation of Porto preferred by Mário Soares and there slept several members of the European royalty and other personalities, like Dalai Lama, Bob Dylan or the U2. Now with an architectural recovered by António Teixeira Lopes, 85, a disciple of Rogério Azevedo, the author of the original project, prices doubled: a quarter of the lowest typology costs 250 to 280 euros, while a suite cost around 800-900 euros per night.

Another of the novelties of this second life of the Infante Sagres is the Vogue Café, which marks the arrival in Portugal of this concept of luxury with the seal of Condé Nast International, present in Dubai, Moscow or Kiev. Explored by the TFP itself, which trusts that this "will be another business card for the city," the space has two rooms, an interior courtyard and an own entrance by the street of Avis.
 
Almost one in four euros comes from tourism
 
According to data provided to Business by Adrian Bridge, the Vila Nova de Gaia-based group, which now employs close to 700 people, has raised global turnover to 116 million euros in 2017, representing growth of 14% in terms homologues. Holders of 12 quintas in the Douro and producer of 12 to 14 million bottles of Port wine per year - 97% of sales are made abroad, with emphasis on the United Kingdom, United States and Canada -, the wine business was worth about of 70 million euros last year.
 
The tourism segment, which includes the Infante Sagres, is increasingly relevant to the group, weighing almost a quarter (22.4%) in total turnover. The hotel bet started in 2010, with the inauguration of The Yeatman, in the historical area of ​​Vila Nova de Gaia - in May it completes the investment of 5.5 million euros to add 26 rooms to this luxury wine unit - and continued with the The Vintage House, in Pinhão, purchased from the management of the old CS hotels and reopened in May 2016. From the tourist portfolio, which has generated 26 million euros in revenues in the last year - Taylor's and Croft's cellars and the Douro farms of Panascal and Roêda.
 
In June 2017, TFP presented the "World of Wine" project, a mega tourist, cultural and commercial complex already under construction in the historic area of Gaia, in which the group will apply between 80 and 100 million euros. Divided into five thematic spaces, the project envisages the creation of 350 direct and permanent jobs after the opening, which Adrian Bridge continues to promise by June 2020.

Linked directly to the wine, the group is also present in the distribution. Through Grossão, a "generalist" wholesale wholesaler that operates with all brands; of On-Wine, a distribution company with a "premium" positioning; and Heritage Wines, which is positioned in a "super-premium" niche, essentially for the restoration, distributing Porto's own references and also national and international third-party brands, such as Quinta do Crasto (Douro) or Herdade do Mouchão ( Alentejo).

[Frederick Blais]

My plane was cancelled last Monday so I went walking around and noticed the IdS was opened and did a quick visit. It was the opening day. It is gorgeous!!! Really beautiful, bright, spacious, clean and inspiring. A total constrast with the previous black and white style.

[Andy Velebil]

My plane was cancelled last Monday so I went walking around and noticed the IdS was opened and did a quick visit. It was the opening day. It is gorgeous!!! Really beautiful, bright, spacious, clean and inspiring. A total constrast with the previous black and white style.

Good to hear. I've stayed there a few times in the past, many years ago. It was very nice but really showing it's age. Glad it's been renovated and I look forward to seeing it in person soon.


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[Roy Hersh]

Actually, it was renovated not that many years ago. But the decor was pretty horrid and the charm of yesteryear was gone.

I am sure that it is going to be a huge improvement and along with the increase in the number of rooms and major increase in the staffing level, the bottom price is about 100 Euros more than it used to be; up to its last days under the old management team.

[Eric Menchen]

And there is craft beer just a block to the north: A Fábrica da Picaria - Cervejaria Artesanal