New Port hotel promises educational experience

In just over a month the Portuguese city of Oporto will gain a new luxury hotel on the south bank of the river Douro.

Brainchild of The Fladgate Partnership, the new building – called The Yeatman – will boast the best Portuguese wine list in the world, according to Adrian Bridge, managing director of the Port group and head of the new project.

The Yeatman is named in tribute to Dick Yeatman, who ran the company formerly known as Taylor Fladgate & Yeatman until his death in 1966.

On 19 July Oporto’s mayor will be opening the hotel, which occupies a seven-acre site among the old Port lodges on the city’s southern hillside.

The building, which is entirely new, will occupy half of the plot, with the rest allocated to gardens containing rare and endangered indigenous Portuguese plants, as well as a 1,000 year-old olive tree and a butterfly house.

As much as €32.5 million has been lavished on the project, which includes an 82-bedroom hotel with shop, restaurant and bar, as well as vinotherapy spa by Caudalíe, roman bath and “shower experience”.

Justifying the high spend, Bridge said: “I think tourism is a major business opportunity for Portuguese wine.” Already he records double-digit growth in the number of visitors to Portugal, while currently 700,000 people come to the Port lodges alone each year.

“I say that is 700,000 potential ambassadors for Port,” he said, adding: “Opening this hotel will provide visitors with a great experience of Port and wine.”

Although The Fladgate Partnership, which includes Port brands Taylor’s, Croft and Fonseca, doesn’t produce table wine, Bridge has asked other Portuguese wine brands to sponsor rooms in the hotel and supply library wines for the bar and restaurant.

“I’d like us to have the best Portuguese wine list in the world and a wine dinner every week on a Thursday night,” he said, stressing that the hotel will “have a very strong educational aspect”.

Continuing, he said: “Tourists are looking for more experiential holidays, not just sitting on beaches. You can learn about yourself by climbing a mountain or you can learn to cook, or learn about a wine region – and wine is the fastest growing experiential holiday because wine is a way to tap into the local culture and it goes well with food and grapes tend to be grown in beautiful landscapes.”

The environmental impact of the new hotel is also being carefully managed. Solar panels are being used for water heating and photovoltaic cells to generate electricity, while rainwater and grey water will be collected for irrigating the gardens, which will be fed using composted waste from the kitchens. Meanwhile, purified mains water will replace the need for bottled spring water.

Patrick Schmitt, 27.05.2010