[Grande Hotel do Pezo – Melgaço]

Description [Grande Hotel do Pezo – Melgaço]

Typology [Hotel]

Location [Melgaço]

Date of Visit [19-06-2021]

Home Use [Hotel]

Historical Notes [Historical framework of the building]

GREAT HOTEL IN PEZO – MELGASCO

Year 1901 – The beginning The construction of this hotel began in the year of 1901. It was one of the greatest symbols of Melgaço's wealth, during the first half of the last century. It was the great reference throughout the country and across borders in terms of the luxury it made available to its customers. Your customers were from the upper class, mainly thermalists, arriving from all over the territory for treatments at the Termas de Melgaço. In 19 de Fevereiro de 1912, was acquired by José Figueiroa Granja, Vigo man, to José Joaquim Esteves, constituting itself, for your exploration, the Figueiroa e Ribas society.

Year 1914 – The first difficulties With the course of the First World War, Melgaço suffered a lot from this worldwide scourge. Later, the pneumonic flu appeared, devastating the entire municipality but more often to the north. As expected, these events brought great economic difficulties to the region and the hotel..

Year 1919 – Start of recovery When the epidemic outbreak was in its final stages, construction began on one of the thermal spa areas with 10 enameled iron bathtubs and a shower room, having two steam boilers to heat the bath water. The work would only be completed in 1924, but two years before, due to a favorable economic situation, Melgaço was a tourist destination par excellence.

Year 1922 – The beginning of rivalry The two biggest hotels in Melgaço, the Grande Hotel do Pezo and the Ranhadas, engaged in a relentless battle to capture the greatest number of customers. in July 1922, the local press pointed out the high prices charged at these two resorts. To capture your customers, these hotels rivaled the prices they charged, at the parties and balls that took place in its facilities. This rivalry forced the Grande Hotel do Pezo to invest in advertising. Advertisements and cards were produced and passed on to their customers, which thus circulated throughout the country.

No end of 1930, the thirst for wealth seemed to have no limits in Melgaço. The continued high prices at the Thermal Baths began to drive away many of their customers who did not understand how it was possible to charge 110$00 per subscription, when in other spas where the guest did not lack anything, it was half price.

Year of 1931 – The arrival of electricity In this year, the gas lamps started to disappear, due to the appearance of electric light that extended to the entire village. This fact, made the Termas reach unimaginable records. in the summer of 1932, the Grande Hotel do Pezo park, lived big lively nights, all thanks to electric light.

Years,pt 50 – The beginning of the end During the decade of 50, the golden years of the Termas de Melgaço came to an end, due to prices and the emergence of new therapeutic processes, like chemotherapy. In addition to these factors, also start to appear new tourist destinations, like the beach, who replaced thermal water with sun and sea water. The Grande Hotel do Pezo, which until then had been a symbol of luxury and power, ended up closing the doors.

Year 2022 – The requalification The former hotel was owned by the Unicer group and was purchased by 300.000 euros. After requalification, its reopening is scheduled for the year of 2022. Given what I saw on the ground, possibly not in this year that the reopening will occur. Maybe I'm wrong…… It's an investment in the order of 7,2 milhões de euros, promoted by OCRAM Hotel Management, French capital and financed through the COMPETE program.

The requalification project will cover an area of 11.900 square meters. The project foresees the recovery of the ruins of the old hotel, and the land located behind the property will be expanded, respecting the moth and that will allow to create the 74 rooms of the new hotel.

END

Research sources: sites: www.radiovaledominho.com (record) and https://radiogeicesapo.pt (requalification).

And now photos…