A total investment of 35 million euros will make it possible to rehabilitate the emblematic Grand Hotel Taoro in it Cross port. This mythical hotel space plans to reopen its doors in the summer of 2024 after approximately 22 months of construction. The president of the council of Tenerife, Peter Martinthe mayor of Cross port, Frame gonzalez and the president of Tropical Turística Canaria (TTC), ignacio polancoaccompanied by the architect Virgil Gutierrez, architect of the project together with Eustaquio Martínez, presented the symbolic start of the work before making a visit to the facilities. The objective is to turn it into a symbol, a reference point and a pole of tourist attraction not only for the municipality it houses but for the Island. To modernize it as the first large five-star luxury hotel in Spain, while maintaining the tradition of its 133-year history. Two fundamental ideas drive this process. On the one hand, public-private collaboration. On the other hand, the interconnection of the three pillars involved: Cabildo, city council and TTC.
The president of the Cabildo de Tenerife, Pedro Martín, stressed that “the rehabilitation and start-up of the Gran Hotel Taoro will have a great impact on the local economy, by adding, together, more than 1,000 jobs. He added that “over the next 22 months, nearly 800 workers will contribute to developing the project to remodel, restore and modernize the building signed by architects from Tenerife.” Martín pointed out that “later, when it is 100% operational, the hotel will give employment to more than 250 professionals, also directly and indirectly”. The insular president valued that “Puerto de la Cruz returns with an emblem that is not only here, from the North, but from the entire island. A hotel that started on December 22, 1890, will finally be rehabilitated, the first tourist referent when nobody was talking about tourism yet”. He had an impact on the driving force of the project because even though the works have only just begun, “there are hoteliers who are already investing in improving their facilities because they will be next to this new Hotel Taoro”, highlighted Pedro Martín. Pedro Martín added that ” the Cabildo is committed because the installation is theirs, we make a contribution of around 15 million euros, together with the one that will be made by the company awarded the lease of the hotel and from here on, this is not going to stop”.
respect for the essence
For his part, the president of Tropical Turística Canaria, Ignacio Polanco, stressed that the project with which they were winners of the contest “seeks to care for and respect the essence of the Gran Hotel Taoro as much as possible” in order to “restore its former splendor”. Polanco thanked the Cabildo and the Puerto de la Cruz City Council “for their continued collaboration and support”, in addition to extending his thanks to Cajasiete, the entity that finances the works for the company he chairs, to the construction company Dragados, which is carrying out the work, and Arum Group, project manager of the execution. Polanco recalled his father, Jesús, the founder of the company and “a lover of Tenerife”. He remembered the brake
The mayor of the tourist city, Marco González, wanted to emphasize the milestone that is the beginning of this comprehensive rehabilitation “of an iconic symbol of the history of the pioneering city of tourism in Canary Islands that could not be understood without this emblematic hotel”. He stressed that the planned action “comes to reinforce the unstoppable hotel investment in Puerto de la Cruz, which is reflected in the high occupancy rate in recent months, both national and international tourism, with the attraction of new markets to continue on the path of growth in profitability that shows that the tourist city is in a new era”. The mayor highlighted the depth of the concept of Porto identity, and how it is closely linked to the history and development of the Gran Hotel Taoro, “a legacy that we now recover so connected to our local society and what we are and, above all, what we want be,” he concluded.
four great lines
The architect Virgilio Gutiérrez reviewed the four main lines that have marked his work. In the first place, “the recovery of the building adapting it to the new demands”. Also “the expansion of the perimeter plinth in the front area to locate car parks.” Also “the recovery of the gardens, swimming pool, solarium and others with the concept of continuity from the nearby park of La Sortija. That axis Teide-ocean that has always characterized this construction”. Finally, “the adaptation of the small road and the construction of a spa below ground level”. Gutiérrez insisted on respect for “the environment of an Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC) hand in hand with Patrimonio del Cabildo”. He concluded: “In short, preserving history with everything that a modern hotel demands”. The commercial director of My Way Hotels, the operator of the Taoro, Brendan Green, was the host of the ceremony symbolic of the start of the works, the starting signal for the countdown to the pre-opening of the Gran Hotel Taoro, scheduled for the summer of 2024.
The ‘jewel’ of the Cabildo
The Gran Hotel Taoro is owned by the Cabildo de Tenerife. It stopped hosting clients in 1975 and spent nearly 40 years closed as a hotel establishment, operated as a casino between 1979 and 2006, the year in which it closed its doors. The island corporation launched a contest to reform and lease the establishment, which Tropical Turística Canaria won in 2019 with a project made up of a totally local technical team. The idea seeks to modernize the hotel to give it the necessary standards that the luxury segment currently requires, while maintaining the essence of the history and prestige of this emblematic building. Illustrious figures such as the writer Agatha Christie or King Alfonso XIII have passed through it.
The Gran Hotel Taoro will be managed by My Way Hotels, the hotel operator of Tropical Turística Canaria, and its remodeling will involve an investment of close to 35 million euros, which will allow it to offer 207 rooms (414 accommodation beds), spread over the four floors of the hotel in an incomparable environment, that of the Taoro Gardens, and whose west wing will house three heated swimming pools and a new wellness. As for the gastronomic offer, the hotel will have up to six different spaces, some of them signed by an internationally recognized chef. Sport will also be very important in the establishment’s vacation offer, as it has a complete indoor gym and takes advantage of the 100,000 meters outdoors offered by the Taoro Park to organize various running circuits and activities outdoors. After its rehabilitation, the new Taoro will optimize the use of environmental resources to reduce the impact on the environment. Sustainability will therefore be one of the bulwarks of this hotel, which will have up to 700 square meters of solar panels on its roofs, the energy of which will mainly make it possible to generate Sanitary Hot Water and heat the pools in winter, pools that will be built with heat recovery and low salt electrolysis (to avoid the use of chlorine and chemical products).
