After a complete refurbishment and an investment of more than €6 million a historic hotel in Marbella is entering a new phase.
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The San Cristóbal hotel in central Marbella will reopen this summer as the Óbal Urban Hotel. The hotel, which closed in for refurbishment in October 2022, has upgraded to a four-star establishment, 110 rooms (one suite, four junior suites, 45 premium rooms, three family rooms and 57 classic rooms) and with a firm commitment to urban and gastronomic tourism, it aims to become a local and regional hotel benchmark once again. The new hotel will have a gym, a massage room and a new restaurant ‘Alameda’, which will serve Mediterranean cuisine and local produce with influences of traditional Malaga cuisine. It will also have the 360º Blue Sky Bar, a rooftop bar with swimming pool and relaxing area including a more casual menu.
The presentation of the new concept and name took place at the Marbella stand at Fitur 2023, with the Parra family and the Delegate of Tourism of the Andalusian Regional Government in Malaga, Gemma del Corral, as well as the Mayor of Marbella, Ángeles Muñoz.
Cristóbal Parra Jiménez, outlined the company’s vision during Fitur, stating that “Óbal Urban Hotel wants to strengthen its leadership in holiday hotels and in the urban segment in Marbella and the Costa del Sol”.
The common thread that inspired the new name of the establishment is the roots of the family business founded by his grandfather Cristóbal Parra when he arrived in
Marbella in the 1940s.
“We are an iconic hotel, with a long legacy, a lot of history, and although with the new name and the complete refurbishment we have sought an absolute change, we
have not wanted to lose our origins. The name of the iconic Marbella hotel, “San Cristóbal”, came about in reference to its founder and coinciding with the patron saint of travellers, drivers, and transporters”. The new name “Óbal” came from the search for a suitable name for a product with well-defined roots, but we wanted to build a whole identity structure that fits in with and contributes to defining the new modernised corporate image of the establishment. This is why it was not enough for us to simply look for a name that sounded good or was easy to memorise. We have tried, above all, to give relevance to our product and its history, to attract the attention of our customers, hence the idea of keeping part of the original name”, explained Manuel Murga, director of Óbal Urban Hotel.
THE FABULOUS ROOF TOP BAR
“On the other hand, by adding the concept of “Urban Hotel” to the name, we wanted to cover the client who is looking to stay in Marbella not only for holiday tourism, but also for a more metropolitan concept of establishment located in the centre of the city and focused on the corporate sector,” says Murga.
