The Grand Hotel Imperiale in Forte dei Marmi in the hands of the Emirates

The decisive step to strengthen itself as an international luxury tourism destination has arrived. Forte dei Marmi, the queen of Versilia and of real estate prices (more than 10 thousand euro per square metre), attracts the investment of one of the most influential men in the Arab Emirates..

The Grand Hotel Imperiale (a five-star luxury hotel 200 metres from the sea) - as reported in Il Sole 24Ore of 21 November - passes to Mohamed Ali Alabbar, founder and chairman of Emaar Properties, one of the world's most important real estate companies, which has developed projects such as the Burj Khalifa, Dubai's landmark building (the tallest skyscraper ever built), and the Dubai Mall, the world's largest department store. The Arab entrepreneur also founded Eagle Hills and Nshama, an investment company in Abu Dhabi. The Fortemarmine operation - according to the Sole 24 Ore - closed a few weeks ago. The seller is the Russian family office Luxury Hotel Development, which until now had entrusted the management of the hotel to a Spanish company (Panoram Hotel Management)..

The price paid by Mohamed Ali Alabbar for the hotel (which has 46 rooms and suites, a swimming pool and restaurants) and for the Remo Beach Club, which functions as a private beach for guests, is close to EUR 40 million, according to sources close to the file.

The landing in Forte dei Marmi of a name such as Alabbar, which has purchased the hotel in its own right, represents a leap in scale for the Tuscan resort, and opens the door to international tourism, not only Arab, which until now could not find the right environment for its needs. Alabbar has already announced to its consultants that it intends to completely renovate the Grand Hotel Imperiale (a 'light' makeover will be carried out in the coming months, pending the 'heavy' work)..

"The new hotels on the way? In recent times there has been a great deal of interest in the city, which qualifies it higher and higher,' says Paolo Corchia, president of Federalberghi Forte dei Marmi, 'and that can only do the area good. Even if now this phenomenon will have to be managed, adapting the services: the few taxi drivers there are today cannot be enough, just to give an example".
In the meantime, Corchia applauds the "Hotel Plan" put together by the municipality in dialogue with the hoteliers, which allows, where possible, a 25% increase of the existing surfaces, excluding expansions in height so as not to prejudice the landscape.