The new five-star unit, with 29 rooms, is aimed at a luxury segment and will have an internal garden, a rooftop pool, a gym, a multipurpose room for meetings and also a restaurant and bar, explained Tatiana Vieira, the project manager.

“If everything goes as planned, we hope to open in late 2026, early 2027,” she said, adding that they also plan to host small events at The Ashana, such as art exhibitions, live music and other cultural initiatives.

The hotel, described by developers as an “urban oasis”, is the first to be designed and built from scratch in Portugal by Terra International, a family-owned construction company that has been present in the Algarve for 10 years, with hotels in Austria, Bulgaria and the United States.

Tatiana Vieira believes that Faro has “a lot of potential” and a wide “variety of things to offer” but has been in the “background” in terms of demand, although in recent years, there has been an increase in tourists in the city.

Embracing history

“The main reason tourists come to Faro is for its history, so building a conventional hotel wouldn’t make much sense. What’s in fashion now is the Scandinavian, minimalist style. But that’s not what we want. We want to embrace the city’s history,” he added.

In this sense, the new hotel, the second five-star hotel to be built in the city, celebrates the city's heritage, recovering some of the Moorish architecture and combining it with modern Portuguese architecture, said the architect responsible for the project, Nelson Gaitinha.

“We didn’t want it to be a project for mass tourism, but something with more character than the standards set by the big chains. We wanted to do something different from the ‘standard’ model, as tourism has become very brand-oriented and standardised,” he stressed.

But the difference is not only at the structural level, with this new unit, the group intends to create a “different and creative” offer, which includes more personalised customer service, a kind of butler who supports you during your stay.

“This difference is not only related to the structure, but also to the service we will provide. We want to move away from the traditional concept of a receptionist, waiter or ‘barman’ and have a service in which the guest is welcomed by someone who will accompany them throughout their stay,” he explained.

In June 2021, the first five-star hotel in the Algarve capital opened, with a total of 103 rooms, two restaurants, bars, a spa, an indoor pool and an outdoor pool, the latter located on the roof of the building overlooking the Ria Formosa.

Located in an area of ​​2,500 square metres in the city center, 3HB Faro was the result of the renovation of two buildings, one of which is a century old, in an investment by the 3HB Hotels hotel group.