Our proud history of providing exceptional service to our clients dates back to el the pioneering Hotel El Fuerte, which opened in Marbella on the 4th of July 1957.
This establishment, now El Fuerte Marbella, was built next to the remains of El Fuerte de San Luis (also known as Fort Louis), which gave its name to both our first hotel and our company.
El Fuerte de San Luis has accompanied us throughout our growth over the years, and we’d like to share its story with all friends of Fuerte Group.
The first hotel built by Don José Luque Manzano
When Don José Luque Manzano first bought this plot of land in Marbella and built the chain’s first hotel, he was taking a great risk. The businessman was born in Estepa, a village near Seville, where he owned a chocolate factory and an oil mill. His family and friends thought he had left a good town for a better one.
But time proved the innovative hotelier right. On the 15th of July 1957, Don José Luque Manzano hosted a gala dinner for some 500 guests to inaugurate the first hotel building, complete with 33 rooms and the first lift on the Costa del Sol.
When Don José passed away in 1984, the second generation of the family took over the hotel, going on to expand and renovate it. Today, the company, which is still family-run, has seven tourist establishments that all still preserve the style that originated in Marbella in 1957 next to El Fuerte de San Luis.
The 90's
In the 1990s, the chain decided to open its next hotel in the nearby province of Cadiz. Hotel Fuerte Conil was inaugurated on the 12th of February 1999. Five years later, the construction of Fuerte Costa Luz in Conil de la Frontera was completed. In the following years, both would be constituted as a single complex, Hotel Fuerte Conil-Resort.
Between 2000 and 2009
Some years after, Fuerte Hoteles decided to invest again in a second Marbella hotel. Hotel Fuerte Miramar (now Amàre Beach Hotel Marbella) opened to the public in 2001.
Later, in February 2002, the youngest in the family was opened in the Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park: Hotel Fuerte Grazalema.
Hotel Fuerte El Rompido was next to open in 2005, in the scenic natural setting of the Río Piedras and Flecha de El Rompido in Cartaya (Huelva). Its opening, next to the best golf courses in Andalucia, paved the way for a new kind of hospitality and joined the chain’s list of sustainable hotels.
Three years later, in 2008, the construction of Apartamentos Fuerte Calaceite (now Olée Holiday Rentals) was completed. This apartment complex, which now consists of Olée Nerja Holiday Rentals and Olée Torrox Holiday Rentals, is located in a privileged setting between the towns of Nerja and Torrox, known for having the best climate in Europe. This is the chain’s commitment to the Eastern Coast of Malaga, located right by the beach with a unique panoramic view of the Mediterranean.
Fuerte Group crossed the pond in 2009, when it began construction of Hotel Secrets Montego Bay Jamaica. This establishment is the group’s international venture, a co-development with other investors responsible for the project management of this luxury resort with 700 rooms in Montego Bay (Jamaica).
From 2010 to 2019
In 2010, Hotel Fuerte Estepona was inaugurated, which was operated by the company until 2020, when it ceased to belong to the Fuerte Hoteles family.
September 2017 saw the opening of Breathless Montego Bay Spa & Resort, a 5-star all-inclusive hotel with 150 rooms, 5 restaurants and 3 bars. The hotel is located in Montego Bay, Jamaica, and, together with the two previous Secrets Hotels, forms a 3-hotel resort complex.
In 2022, Fuerte Group sold its stake in the Secrets Montego Bay, Secrets Wild Orchid, and Breathless Montego Bay hotels in Jamaica.
In 2016, the former Hotel Fuerte Miramar was completely refurbished, and became the foundation for the Amàre Hotels adults-only brand with the opening of Amàre Beach Hotel Marbella.
In 2018, the company acquired Hotel Costa Conil (now part of Fuerte Conil-Resort), in the province of Cadiz.
Then, in July 2019, the Amàre brand expanded with a new hotel, the company’s first outside Andalusia: Amàre Beach Hotel Ibiza.
At present
In 2021, Olée Torrox Holiday Rentals was opened next to the existing Olée Nerja Holiday Rentals apartment complex.
In 2021, the Breathless Cancún Soul Resort & Spa hotel (with 429 suites) opened its doors in a privileged location between the Caribbean Sea and the Nichupté Lagoon.
2023, meanwhile, marks the reopening of the new Hotel El Fuerte Marbella, whose complete refurbishment has turned it into the Fuerte Group’s first 5-star hotel.
The group is also working on the creation of a new brand, DAIA, which offers the ‘slow beach hotel’ experience; an oasis of tranquillity in Conil de la Frontera that’s focused on well-being with the essence of the sea and southern Spain.
Currently, through its subsidiary CTCottingley, Fuerte Group is expanding its operations in the Dominican Republic and Jamaica with new projects:
- Playa Esmeralda, Dominican Republic: A complex with 1000 rooms is being developed, with the possibility of expanding to 500 more rooms. The opening is scheduled for the end of 2023.
- Richmond, Jamaica: This 515-room project is in the process of obtaining environmental permits, with no defined start date.
Fuerte Group continues its commitment to offering exceptional experiences in the Caribbean.
Fuerte Group, SL. is a Spanish family-owned business group that has been involved in hotel development since 1957, starting in Marbella. Currently, it manages 1,773 rooms with a presence in Andalucia and the Balearic Islands (Spain).
Since 2005, it has been engaged in hotel promotion in the Caribbean, in Mexico, Jamaica, and now in the Dominican Republic, through its subsidiary CTCottingley, S.A. based in San José, Costa Rica.
