Alicante might represent the perfect fly-and-flop destination for some clients and package holiday hell for others. But the provincial capital and its surrounds are no longer quite so divisive, argued Nico Timmermans, director of sales and acting general manager at Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa in Alicante, when we met in London last week.
“Spain is a country that’s very focused on hospitality,” he explained. “Alicante has never been thought of as a luxury destination but this has been changing in recent years. As a Leading Hotel of the World we’ve helped put a stamp on the map there, and last year Alicante was also the starting point for the Volvo Ocean Race, which has helped to raise its profile.”
Timmermans added that clients who aren’t convinced the port city has changed its ways needn’t leave the hotel: “When clients are in the Asia Gardens Hotel they don’t want to go anywhere else. It’s a hideaway destination resort but with easy access, and we take advantage of what the region offers in terms of weather, local flair and especially beaches.”
The Barcelo Premium resort fuses the familiarity and famed hospitality of Spain with the exoticism of Asia in a lush and sprawling oasis. “It’s like cutting off a little corner of Bali and sticking it in the Costa Blanca,” he explained.
“It’s about bringing that [oriental] experience into Europe, knowing that not everyone has the time to travel that far away.”
It’s not just the setting that offers the feel of the tropics. The hotel’s female staff wear smart, Thai-inspired dresses, the scent of lemongrass fills the air and Thai music is played in the background. “That all helps transport you to another world; it’s a little paradise,” he said. Perhaps it’s this holistic approach that has helped the hotel score a clientele, which includes Penelope Cruz (pictured), Bruce Willis, Joan Collins and Novak Djokovic.
New for 2015 is the hotel and spa’s wellness programme, named “renacer”, meaning “to revive”. The programme combines ancient oriental principles of health and wellness with conventional western medicine, with three, five, seven and 10-day packages available.
Like the resort’s other features, there are opportunities for fusion, this time between the wholesome and the indulgent. Timmermans added: “If guests want a strict vegetarian diet they can have that, or they can simply enjoy a glass of wine and a steak.”
