Luxury travel and lifestyle PR specialist Bacall Associates has been retained to launch Gran Hotel Miramar in Malaga.

Bacall Associates’ brief is to establish the iconic property as one of Europe’s foremost grand hotels, and firmly establish Malaga on the global luxury travel map.

Following an investment of close to €65m, the landmark historic building in the heart of Malaga has been undergoing a complete overhaul since 2014 and will launch in spring 2017 as Gran Hotel Miramar, the first grand luxury hotel for the city. 

Celebrating 90 years this December, the magnificent building was designed by celebrated Spanish architect Fernando Guerrero Strachan and inaugurated in 1926 by King Alfonso XIII as the Hotel Principe de Asturias. 

Since then, it has undergone many incarnations including a stint as a field hospital during the Spanish Civil Wars and a 20-year period as the city’s courthouse.

The building has undergone painstaking renovation to restore it to its former glory, preserving or returning many of its original features including intricate Moorish carved wood arches, a beautiful first floor gallery, Andalucían tiling, hand painted frescoes and ornate stucco ceilings.

The resulting grand hotel, which will be set among beautifully landscaped grounds, will feature 200 rooms and suites in three different designs - Classic, Mediterranean and neo-Arabic - a fabulous ballroom, 17 further meeting spaces, three restaurants and bars including a rooftop chill out zone, and a spa spanning two floors among its facilities. 

Located in the cultural hub of La Caleta, within easy reach of the Picasso and Carmen Thyssen museums and boasting a fabulous seafront location with breath-taking views across the bay of Malaga, the hotel is just a 15-minute drive from Malaga Airport.

The hotel will open in April 2017 after a soft launch period from December 2016.