RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Tangará Palace, a luxury hotel in the city of São Paulo, has had its doors closed for almost six months, with no guests. Now it is preparing to reopen with new attractions, an outdoor restaurant, and security protocols developed in partnership with Albert Einstein Hospital.
Its doors will reopen on September 17th. The first weekend is with 75 percent occupancy. The hotel offers 141 spacious apartments, 59 of which are suites, all with views of the green. There are also nine private meeting rooms and a ballroom.
To keep the interest of loyal guests during the quarantine, the development sold a package of daily stays to be used with no definite date – it sold R$970,000 (US$194,000) with this campaign. “This sale evidenced the public’s interest, of São Paulo’s citizens, to use it for themselves or to give as a gift,” says the general director Celso do Valle.
The hotel attends both people traveling to São Paulo for leisure and the corporate audience, which comes to the city on business. While the first public should return gradually, the return of the second should take time, as well as international travelers.
Green area and home office
One of the main changes in the environment is the exterior area, with an outdoor swimming pool. “It is a large open area in a very pleasant but underutilized place. To enjoy the open air, which used to be a luxury, and nowadays is a necessity”, says Valle. The venue will host a new restaurant, the ‘Pateo do Palácio’, overlooking the green of Burle Marx Park.
The menu is signed by renowned chefs Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Felipe Rodrigues, who also run the Tangará Jean-Georges, the hotel’s Michelin-starred restaurant since 2018. The project was signed by Patricia Anastassiadis and landscaping by Roberto Riscala, who prioritized native fruit trees, such as ‘jabuticabeiras’, in order to attract several bird species. The balconies of some first-floor apartments, overlooking the courtyard, will be used by several bands to provide live music during dinner – but at a distance.
The spa will also have outdoor spaces for facial procedures and massages in tents built amidst the green. Collective functional gymnastics and yoga training will be offered outdoors. During the week, personal trainers will be able to provide individual coaching, either outdoors or in the gym. “You can’t see São Paulo’s traffic from any window, only the green. We want to attract clients with the concept of ‘staycation’, traveling without going very far”, says the director.
Another incentive is the option of booking an extra room, at no cost, to work in home office or for the children’s online classes.
Care in closing
During the months it remained closed, the hotel was fully renovated. “Although it is a new development, only three years old, there were 96 items that needed to be revised in all rooms”, says the director. During the time it was closed, the hotel hired more security guards, for fear of leaving the development empty and unmanned. The company has adopted measures to reduce working hours and wages for some time. With over 260 employees in March, today there are 180.
For its reopening, the company relied on a consultancy by Albert Einstein Hospital. The security protocols range from cleaning the rooms and circulation rules to receiving goods in the back. Chair upholstery was replaced to ease cleaning and the magnetic keys were replaced with a QR code on cell phones. When cleaning, the staff member who removes bedding on a guest’s departure is not the same person who will replace the sheets, for instance.
Source: Exame