This is the third in a series of profiles examining the families deploying long-term private capital into hotels, covering owner-operators, investment holding companies and family-controlled enterprises, ahead of R&R. You can catch up on the whole series here.
Jorge Rebelo de Almeida, the founder and president of Portugal’s Vila Galé hotels, has always maintained a hands-on role across his family’s hospitality empire. When the hotel group celebrated its fortieth anniversary in June 2026 with a gala at the Vila Galé Sintra, the Rebelo de Almeida patriarch took charge of the festivities. “We created a brand that strengthens Portugal,” he told the party’s 500 guests. “Forty years of a company deserve to be celebrated, especially a company that humbly sought to create values,” he added, defining those values as “transparency, unbiased rigor, work, persistence, focus, goals, and responsibility”.
He also underlined that Vila Galé’s growth didn’t happen overnight, but was rather “a 40-year journey, always with one logic: investing in good destinations, creating hotels with identity, and reinvesting in quality”.
From Portugal to Brazil
Today considered Portugal’s second largest hotel group, Vila Galé was founded in 1986 in the Algarve. The first project, the Vila Galé Atlântico apartment hotel, opened its doors in 1988. Rebelo de Almeida wasn’t initially planning on creating a hotel group, however, further opportunities arose in the Algarve, before the family expanded to Cascais in 1996 and Porto in 1999.
In 2002, the group took its first international steps with its Brazilian debut, Vila Galé Fortaleza. Its first major all-inclusive resort in Brazil, the Vila Galé Marés in Bahia, was built in 2006.
Towards the end of 2023, the business launched its first hotel in Cuba, Cayo Paredón Grande, in Jardines del Rey, north of the province of Ciego de Avila. Since then, it has added another three properties on the island, by converting existing hotels in Havana, Varadero and Cayo Santa Maria to the brand. “Cuba came about as a result of an invitation from the government, which approached us to manage a hotel in Cayos, with 638 rooms and seven restaurants,” said Rebelo de Almeida in a recent interview. “The government chose us because we are a company with a lot of weight in Portugal, but also because we have projects in Brazil, as they want to attract Brazilians to Cuba.”
He has since remarked that “Cuba is a challenge”, while asserting that “it is a destination worth investing in” due to its “potential”. However the island’s challenges include falling arrivals from Europe, which he summarised as follows: “The European market has declined significantly after the pandemic, for image reasons that, in my opinion, were exaggerated. The price of tourism in Cuba is very attractive compared to other destinations around the world. We need to improve the offer and the product, but we also need to promote the good things we have.”
Vila Galé waited until 2024 to enter Spain, following an invitation to collaborate on the remodelling of a hotel in Isla Canela, located in Costa de la Luz, Huelva. The property is owned by a local real estate REIT, Saint Croix HI, part of the Pryconsa Group. “We are very excited about this challenge in Spain. We believe that Isla Canela is a destination with great demand and potential, and that we can develop the Spanish, Portuguese and other European markets. This new unit will allow us to reinforce the group’s quality offer and international presence, especially in terms of beach and family tourism,” said Vila Galé CEO Gonçalo Rebelo de Almeida as the project was launched.
Expansion plans
The hotel group currently operates 52 hotels across Portugal, Brazil, Cuba, and Spain. It has also kickstarted ventures in the food and beverage industry, including wine labels, restaurants and pizzerias, as well as launching its own spa and wellness chain. At the recent anniversary celebrations, the group unveiled ambitious plans to develop another 14 hotel properties, split between Portugal and Brazil, plus six additional pipeline projects.
In Portugal, the next openings under the Collection brand will be in Penacova, Miranda do Douro, Golegã, Lisbon, Caxias, and Terceira Island, Azores. In Brazil, meanwhile, the plan includes seven new hotels distributed across São Luís do Maranhão, Coruripe, Brumadinho, João Pessoa, and Florianópolis.
A group defined by personalities
While best known for the Vila Galé empire, Jorge Rebelo de Almeida is also a high-profile figure in Portugal, where Forbes recently ranked him as the country’s fourteenth wealthiest individual. According to the media outlet, as of January 2026, he has amassed a fortune estimated at €951 million, based on the Vila Galé hotel chain’s reported turnover. The company’s annual results, released in February 2026, revealed that the group saw its revenues grow 15 percent in 2025, turning over €193.5 million on the Iberian Peninsula, an increase of 8 percent on 2024. Revenues from Brazil, however, reached €807 million reais (€130 million), a growth of 23 percent. Accordingly, Jorge Rebelo de Almeida has underlined that Brazil has become the group’s most significant revenue driver, asserting ambitions to reach one billion reais (around €160 million) in revenue in the Brazilian market by 2028.
At the group’s anniversary party, CEO Gonçalo Rebelo de Almeida defined Vila Galé's mission as creating “complete hotels that provide gastronomic, entertainment and leisure, wellness and health experiences, which are not just places to sleep”. He added that “we also agreed that hotels must have a cultural and heritage component”. This aligns with Jorge Rebelo de Almeida’s often stated assertion that “we are the group that has carried out the most historical heritage restoration projects in Portugal”.
Gonçalo Rebelo de Almeida underlined that the group is well aware of the hospitality industry’s most pressing challenges, citing in particular staff shortages, climate change and geopolitical forces. But he claimed that the business was ready to face them. “My conviction is that if we remain true to our principles and our strategic direction, we will be able to face all these challenges,” he said.