Capital is flowing into Marbella’s hotels, wellness projects and branded residences as investors continue to stake their cash on their belief that the city’s strong luxury pricing and growing demand from affluent travellers can support a more sophisticated and potentially less seasonal hospitality market.
Needless to say, the destination already has pricing power on its side. According to the 2025 Hotel Barometer from Cushman & Wakefield and STR, Marbella recorded an average daily rate of €365.70 last year, up 11 per cent, making it the most expensive hotel market covered by the report in Spain. Revpar reached €245.85, also the highest, after increasing 11.8 per cent. In July this year, Spain's National Statistics Institute put Marbella's ADR at €416.20 and revpar at €339.40, again the highest of any tourist spot in the country.
It then should come as no surprise that more and more investors are seeing an opportunity to build on that willingness to spend by broadening what Marbella can sell to high-end travellers. Investment in wellness, gastronomy and experiences, along with the arrival of global luxury brands, is helping push the destination from a glamourous party-goer reputation into a more rounded and sophisticated luxury one.
“As capital has flowed into the market, we've seen a corresponding rise in luxury hospitality brands choosing to establish a presence in the destination, reflecting growing confidence in its long-term fundamentals,” says Ana Ivanovic, L+R Hotels’ head of originations & capital formation.
Money talks
This is as looking at the wider investment environment across Spain, there’s a shift towards upscale hospitality in Spain. Four- and five-star hotels together captured 86 per cent of all capital invested, with five-star properties alone accounting for €1.25 billion. Marbella’s share of the investment pie is evident in both new supply as well as in the amount of money being spent to reposition existing hotels.
In Marbella itself, the move is to go from a caricature of a party heavy destination complete with supercars, beach clubs and champagne to a proposition also capable of selling medical wellness and longevity, Michelin-level gastronomy and sophisticated resort and residential products to an affluent international customer.
“Marbella is increasingly attracting investors and operators, and the influx of luxury brands has elevated the destination's overall proposition, creating a virtuous cycle where investment drives quality, and quality attracts further investment,” Ivanovic explains.
Makeover
One example is Los Monteros, which was acquired by Stoneweg Hospitality and Bain Capital Credit in 2022 with a plan to restore it to luxury standards.
At the time, Stoneweg Hospitality managing director Miguel Casas described it to Hospitality Investor as “an excellent opportunity to position the hotel as a leading luxury destination hotel”. Three years later, it reopened as the 195-room Kimpton Los Monteros Marbella following an extensive renovation, bringing an IHG luxury and lifestyle flag to the property. Its repositioned offer puts gastronomy, design and wellness alongside more traditional resort amenities, with Michelin-starred chef José Carlos García overseeing the culinary offer, Maison CODAGE operating the spa, and hydrotherapy, yoga, fitness, tennis and padel also on offer.
Similarly, the Don Carlos resort reopened in 2025 following a €45 million renovation led by Selenta Group, owned by Brookfield, with 308 rooms, suites and residences and a greater focus on gastronomy, wellness and sport. Hospitality Investor reported earlier this year that the investment case went considerably further than making the hotel look prettier. Brookfield vice president Elena Ladisova explained that 60 sea-view rooms were enlarged and provided with terraces, converting them into junior suites. That intervention allowed the hotel to commercialise them at rates 25 per cent to 30 per cent above their previous levels.
Ivanovic herself has a front-row seat to the process following the addition of Gran Marbella Resort & Beach Club to L+R Hotels’ Iconic Luxury Hotels collection in 2025.
The point for investors and operators that Marbella is increasingly going further to create more than a reputation of a fun party destination in a way that gives the most affluent of guests more reasons to visit and stay.
Wellness factor
Wellness is a big part of that evolution, evidenced by the purpose-built health and longevity projects now attracting capital to the area.
Lanserhof is investing €93 million in its first Southern European resort at Finca Cortesin, near Casares and within easy reach of Marbella. Scheduled to open in 2027, the 23,500-square-metre development will contain 71 rooms and suites alongside 2,900 square metres of medical facilities and 1,840 square metres devoted to spa, wellness and movement.
Within Marbella itself, plans to resurrect the former Incosol have seen the local authority approving an €87.4 million redevelopment of the property in October 2025 into a five-star health and longevity complex. Plans are for 168 rooms, with close to 80 per cent dedicated to medical treatments and specialist programmes, alongside 21,000 square metres of healthcare space.
As the trend of wealthy travellers continuing to spend buckets of cash on wellness hospitality continues to grow, the story being told around Marbella makes even more sense as projects like Lanserhof and Incosol target an extremely high-value type of luxury traveller.
More than hotels
Amidst all of this is another trend taking the industry by storm i.e. branded residences, Of course, Marbella hasn’t been left out. In April, Immobel and Fort Partners announced that they had secured full control of the land required for the planned Four Seasons Marbella development, a 32-hectare beachfront destination anchored by a 105-key Four Seasons hotel but also incorporating approximately 40 apartments, 54 townhouses and 33 villas, together with beach clubs, restaurants, sports, wellness, cultural and educational uses.
In January, Mandarin Oriental Exceptional Homes described Marbella as a “key growth destination” when it added six design-led private villas in the area to its collection. When the additions were announced, prices on those homes started at around €25,700 and rise to more than €85,000, with services including private chefs, concierge and daily housekeeping.
But this residential element of the evolution asks a big question of Marbella’s next phase. Can the city become truly year-round? Its 67.2 per cent average hotel occupancy in 2025 was among the lowest of the major destinations tracked by Cushman & Wakefield and STR, despite having Spain's highest ADR and revpar, with the report explicitly attributing that to low seasons continuing to have a strong impact.
But maybe the answer to this lies in the evolution itself. Medical wellness, golf, gastronomy, cultural programming, branded residences, meetings and events could potentially all give hotels and investors ways to create demand outside July and August. They also create more places for guests and residents to spend once they arrive.
Marbella has already proven time and time again that it can command luxury pricing. The investment now pouring into hotels, residences and wellness shows that capital believes there is room to take the opportunity even further.