The Quinta da Marinha resort in Portugal has taken advantage of the hiatus caused to the travel and hospitality industry by the global pandemic to refresh up many of its facilities and services and introduce new ones as it prepares to make the most of 2021 and beyond.
The five-star hotel in Cascais underwent a €5m overhaul of all 198 bedrooms, many communal areas and updated décor throughout as it celebrated its 20th birthday earlier this year. But those celebrations were cut short just a month after the relaunch by lockdown and the enforced three-month closure between March and June.
As it was for so many in the tourism and hospitality industry around the world, it was a huge challenge to face. But Quinta da Marinha grasped the opportunity to further improve their already outstanding service – with extra focus on staff training and adding some finer details to make any stay a little more memorable and comfortable.
And that attention to detail, has even come down to personalised toothbrushes for guests.
Quinta da Marinha sales director, João Pinto Coelho, said: “This year was super-difficult in so many ways and we know we were not alone in this respect. But we are confident and ready for 2021. There were also a lot of false expectations about how quickly things would recover and we had to make a lot of tough decisions. Sadly, that meant we lost some staff but we’re hopeful we may be able to re-hire some of those in the spring.
“But having fewer clients gave us an opportunity to provide even better service and turn those clients into brand ambassadors of the future.
“We’ve devoted a lot of time to staff training, we’ve introduced mobile phone room access technology and we’ve even now added personalised toothbrushes for every client in their room. These seem like small details but they all add up to an improved guest experience.”
A 30-minute drive from Lisbon in stunning Cascais, Hotel Quinta da Marinha is part of the ‘Great Hotels of the World’ portfolio, with its Robert Trent Jones-designed par-71 golf course offering outstanding views over the Atlantic Ocean and the Sintra Mountains.
Aside from the hotel investment, the practice facilities have also benefited from a major upgrade in recent times and the introduction of electric golf bikes.