One of Mexico’s most interesting hotel groups remains fairly
unknown in the U.S., but should soon burst onto the scene as it
continues to expand its luxury boutique properties. This summer,
Grupo Quinta Real added its ninth property, in Monterrey, and has
ambitious plans for the near future. Already divided between beach
resorts, the colonial cities and Mexico’s business hubs, Quinta
Real has plans for Mexico City, the Maya Riviera and Los Cabos.
The 20-year-old company is a pioneer in what, these days, would
seem simply common sense the all-suite boutique hotel reflecting
its country’s rich culture. But in the early 1980s, when Quinta
Real’s founder was just weighing the possibilities, upper-crust
Mexicans were still faintly embarrassed by their colonial and
mestizo culture. Everything had to be either European or American
to be good. At the time, Mexico’s hospitality industry was leaning
toward large, international-style modern hotels.
Francisco Martinez was a successful Guadalajara businessman in the
food industry who, like most well-to-do Mexicans, traveled often to
Europe. He was particularly drawn to the smaller, family-run luxury
boutique hotels he found there often in historic buildings, filled
with antiques and rich in local culture and was convinced there was
room for something similar in Guadalajara.
In those days, it was an unlikely idea, but in 1984 he invited
several local architects to come up with plans for what they
considered would be the ideal boutique property in Mexico. Two came
up with European-inspired designs, but the Elias brothers presented
Martinez with a quintessentially Mexican design, using stone,
beamed ceilings, wrought iron, colonial arches and a courtyard.
Martinez obtained financing and, already an art collector, began
gathering antiques and reproductions, high-quality crafts and
colonial paintings for the hotel.
In 1986, the first Quinta Real opened its doors. Martinez
discounted the rooms just enough to lure a few people away from
Guadalajara’s best hotels, long enough to discover his unique
alternative. The Quinta Real quickly became a hit and is now a
Guadalajara institution.
Next, the governor of the state of Zacatecas invited Martinez to
come and look at possible hotel venues. The capital city,
Zacatecas, had once been second in riches only to Mexico City, and
was the first of the great colonial silver-mining cities. There
were many beautiful colonial structures available, from monasteries
to a governor’s palace, but Martinez was instantly inspired by what
had been colonial Mexico’s first bullring (and only the second in
Latin America) at the time, a dingy parking lot in the shadow of
what remained of the city’s grand aqueduct. No one could talk him
out of it. Exorcising the bullring of the detritus of bulls and
horses (the hyper-romantic bar is in the old stalls) and shoring up
the insecure aqueduct cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The stunning 53-suite hotel opened in February of 1989, and is
absolutely one of a kind. The following year the property in
Aguascalientes opened, again designed by the Elias brothers, built
with such fidelity to a colonial monastery down to the bell tower
it’s easy to forget it’s a completely new structure, holding not
monks’ cells, but 89 spacious suites. In the years since,
properties have been added in Saltillo, Acapulco, Huatulco,
Monterey, Villa Hermosa and in Guatemala City, Guatemala.
Another jewel in the crown is the property in Huatulco, on
Oaxaca’s still fairly sparsely developed coast. The dramatic
Moorish- inspired Quinta Real Huatulco hugs a peak on Tangalunda
Bay, with 28 suites spilling down the steep hill from the reception
and dining areas to the creamy beach. Many of the suites are
duplexes with plunge pools, and the Presidential Suite features its
own swimming pool and a spectacular open-air thatched-roof living
space.
Francisco Martinez has since sold his shares in the company to
Jose Antonio Alonso of the Bancomer family. All the partners in
individual properties have become equal shareholders in Grupo
Quinta Real, now headquartered in Mexico City. The major
shareholders are Alonso, the company president, and Martinez’s son,
also named Francisco Martinez, the vice president. Last year
revenues from the company’s 851 rooms hit $49 million.
It’s a success story that has led to a brand agents can book with
confidence.
www.quintareal.com
