Animal breeding and feed producers Euroinveste is branching out into the agri-tourism hotel business with the announcement today that Hotel Riverade is to be built on an old farm leading to the banks of the Arade near Estômbar, Lagoa.
The 50 hectare livestock farm was abandoned years ago and is to be converted into a 31-room, five-star hotel at a cost of around €5 million.
The project comes under Agro Pecuária Rio Arade which belongs to Euroeste SA, 'Leaders in agrobusiness,' which until now has concentrated on cattle and pig breeding and the animal feed business including the testing and use of substances in animal feeds such as additives, supplements, vaccines, antiseptics, desinfectants and pesticides.
Hoping to open up in 2019, in addition to the hotel the project will "include ten hectares for wine production and another eight hectares for agriculture, plus the possibility to take boat trips on the river Arade. The area predominant is an ecological reserve zone which will remain untouched," according to Manuel Amorim Ferreira who is managing the Hotel Riverade project.
Ferreira aims for a "different Algarve" to be enjoyed by tourists at the hotel who can “discover the fauna and the flora in the virgin zones - the truly differentiating value will be the river Arade."
The hotel is five kilometers from the sea, but Ferreira sees this as an advantage, "our clients will not be the type that wants only to go to the beach, but the ones that come here to hear birds, see the landscape, participate in activities, go to the garden to pick oranges and make juice in the kitchen. We have a huge space and we are keen on this concept of nature tourism, a market with great potential with tourists from Northern Europe."
The Riverade project is to be built on the exact footprint of the three old farm buildings with the hotel being raised to give each guest a river view.
Construction is to begin in the second half of 2017 and is expected to go on for about 20 months.
