Sheraton Porto announces Montevideu House
05/08/2019
The announcement happened at a time when Sheraton Porto Hotel & Spa, owned by HDP Porto - Hotéis de Portugal, is celebrating its 15th anniversary.
The Montevideu House, named after that avenue in the city, right in front of Homem do Leme beach, has capacity for 200 people, indoor and outdoor areas, and an underground car park.
The House has been completely renovated, almost from scratch - only the facade is the same, everything else is new - including a modern kitchen, fully equipped for the kind of events that can take place there, which are mostly social, such as weddings and other important celebrations, not forgetting the corporate audience. “This allows us to think about which of our venues can work best for each event,” says Joana Almeida, general manager of Sheraton Porto.
Catering is exclusive, precisely because Sheraton wants to ensure that it controls the standards of the service provided there, explains Joana Almeida. Also for this reason, the team that manages and operates at Montevideu House is the same as Sheraton's, with some positions reinforced, namely in the kitchen.
Other services, such as decoration, entertainment, etc., may come from outside, although there is a portfolio of companies in these areas that can be suggested or called upon as needed. They are, one might say, preferential but not exclusive partners.
Context
HDP Porto, a Brazilian and Portuguese capital company, invested in the last two years eight million euros to renovate the Hotel and open the Montevideu House. With 75% of business coming from corporate individuals and groups - meetings, congresses, etc. - the most important thing, says Joana Almeida, is to guarantee the sustainability of the destination, creating the conditions for people to come back, to return to Porto and the north of the country, either for a weekend or for a new meeting.
With this in mind, it is important, for example, that the Super Bock Arena / Rosa Mota Pavilion reinforces Porto's capacity to attract more, and larger, events, and that more flights emerge and consolidate. Opening up to Asia is perhaps the big news in the destination, much the result of both Turkish and Emirates flight connections. And if the origin of the vast majority of guest groups at Sheraton Porto remains European, other nationalities are beginning to be noticed, as is the case with Indians, Joana Almeida explains.
