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Eurostars Hotels___

Expansion Policy

What is your policy to strengthen your company worldwide?

We focus to consolidate our presence on a European scale. In fact, the very name Eurostars Hotels is a statement of principles in itself, for a chain that intends to be present in the main European capitals, without renouncing to its protagonism in the Spanish market.

Beyond Spain, the chain owns Eurostars Vienna 4* (Vienna, Austria), Eurostars Grand Place 4* (Brussels), Eurostars International Palace 4* and Eurostars Domus Aurea 4* (both in Rome, Italy), Eurostars Toscana (Lucca, Italy) and Eurostars Das Artes 4* (Porto, Portugal). The latest addition to the hotel portfolio is Eurostars Roma Congress Hotel & Conference Center 4* (Rome, Italy), and, during the second semester of 2006, two projects, of four and five stars will open in Prague (Czech Republic).

The significant number of hotels integrated in the company's direct operation division, some of them inhigh-interest tourist locations such as Paris and London, implies an estimated growth rate for Eurostars Hotels of approximately five hotels per year.

Our philosophy is not to grow simply for the sake of growth. We will only invest in destinations in which we see real potential for success. We do not want to reach 100 hotels at any price; our expansion will be steady but always subject to criteria of sustainability.

What are the main obstacles – benefits in expanding your brand?

Being able to launch the Caín Eurostars Hotels with a portfolio of some 30 hotels provided us with a certainty of success from the beginning. In order to further grow, however, we consider it essential to establish our brand in places in which we are not present currently.

We are a young company and as such, the benefits of increasing the number of hotels revolve fundamentally around the positioning of the brand Eurostars Hotels between the clients that we are targeting.

Which destinations have more dynamic potentials?

Currently the countries in Eastern Europe have are particularly attractive due to very high return on investment potential for investors. On the other hand, paradoxically, one can come across excellent business opportunities in cities such as Brussels, Vienna and even Berlin or Munich.

In Spain there are also still some places left for hotel projects but the generally speaking the hotel sector is experiencing heavy saturation in this country which is making the profitability of some of these projects doubtful.

How did your company expand the previous decade and where are you going to invest in the next decade?

In 1993, the Grupo Hotusa performed a turn in its expansion policy and took its first steps towards the direct management and operation of hotels, a business line which would complement and diversify its main business activity as a booking centre. In the words of Hotusa President Amancio López Seijas, it implied becoming that which we weren't, without ceasing to be what we were.
A thorough market analysis indicated that it was a good time for hotel chain development. At the same time, the creation of a new division provided an excellent opportunity to channel the wide range of services that was already being provided to other hotels, towards the parent company.

Hotusa was awarded, by public tender from the Regional Government of Galicia (Xunta de Galicia), a contract for the operation of the Ciudad de Vacaciones Monte do Gozo (Holyday City Monte do Gozo), in Santiago de Compostela (A Coruña), thanks to a project full of enthusiasm and effort. This became the first hotel operated directly by the company.

Since then, the company has incorporated, to its network a total of 55 hotels in 18 Spanish provinces (Barcelona, Tarragona, Girona, Zaragoza, Alicante, Valencia, Madrid, Ávila, León, Palencia, Toledo, Ourense, A Coruña, Sevilla, Granada, Málaga, Huelva, Córdoba) and 8 international destinations: Portugal, Austria, France, England, Germany, Belgium, Italy and Mexico, and has based its growth upon the principles of: permanent improvement, with a hotel offering based on the highest quality and service standards; the client as the center of the organisation and the building of a professional and dynamic team able to meet and even anticipate the needs and requirements of the most demanding clientele.

The logical evolution led to the creation of a chain with an identify of its own. Thus, in January 2005, Eurostars Hotels was launched; a chain that now has a high-range hotel portfolio. The chain includes over 30 urban high-range hotels, in privileged locations in historical centers of cities or near the financial districts and targeted mainly to cultural and business clients.

The most emblematic hotel of the chain is undoubtedly the Eurostars Grand Marina Hotel 5*GL, located in the World Trade Centre complex of Barcelona, which, during its four years of activity, has consolidated as one of the key references of high-range hotels in Barcelona. The Barcelona hotel is also a reflection of the main aim of Eurostars Hotels: to ensure that their hotels are perfectly integrated within their host cities through the structure of the buildings, the interior design and the presence of local culture exhibitions at their facilities.

In 2007, Eurostars Hotels will take a further step forward with the operation of a five-star GL hotel with 500 rooms and 33 storeys, located in the SyV Tower, a building 250 meters high located in the land of the old sports city of Real Madrid football team.

As mentioned earlier, our priority is growth in the main European capitals. In the medium run we are not ruling out to increase our presence in Latin America where we currently only have one hotel, and even projects in Asia might be a possibility.