''Matosinhos can add and offer a very rich experience'' - read the exclusive interview by Tiago Duarte, Hotel Manager of the Four Points by Sheraton Matosinhos

Open since March 2022, the Four Points by Sheraton Matosinhos has recorded high occupancy rates, despite competition from the city of Porto. According to Tiago Duarte - Hotel Manager - Matosinhos's experience has helped bring guests to the hotel, which has one of its most loyal audiences in the United States.

Opening a four-star hotel under the banner of one of the world's largest hotel groups, Marriott International, in the city of Matosinhos could have been a risk, especially since the opening took place while the COVID-19 pandemic was still ongoing, in March 2022. Speaking to Publituris, Tiago Duarte, director of the Four Points by Sheraton Matosinhos, admits that yes, the risk existed, but he believes that it was reduced, since Matosinhos was already a city with a considerable offer, "it was just a matter of discovering Matozinhos". "This experience already existed, it just wasn't talked about, it wasn't known," he adds, arguing that all the media coverage goes to the city of Porto, although the cities around Porto also have an interesting offer. "There's always a risk, but from the moment we were here, we realized that maybe there wasn't that much of a risk, we just needed to discover Matozinhos, we needed to look at Matosinhos as a place that can add to and offer a very different experience from Porto, but which is very rich in many areas, in terms of gastronomy, for example, it's excellent," he explains.

In addition to the restaurants, which have long been famous in Matosinhos, largely because of the fish and seafood, the city also has a beach - a five-minute walk from the hotel - international events and various traditions associated with fishing and the canning industry, as well as having Porto right next door, which can even be an advantage for those who want to visit the northern capital but prefer to stay in a quieter place. And Tiago Duarte recognizes that these are precisely some of the city's main attractions, which have led many customers to the Four Points by Sheraton Matosinhos, which is also close to Sá Carneiro Airport in Porto. "The hotel, in fact, is in an unusually central location," acknowledges its director, explaining that due to the wide range of options on offer right on the hotel's doorstep, the unit has seen a "very interesting mix of audiences". "There's a relatively recent concept, Bleisure. And we have exactly that, we have many clients who come for professional reasons, but who manage to have a second part of the day of enormous quality, of enormous quality of life.

That's where Matosinhos transcends itself and surprises those who don't know the city," he explains, revealing that the Four Points by Sheraton Matosinhos is experiencing strong demand from a type of "client who comes for professional reasons", but also "for leisure reasons and who wants to be away from the hustle and bustle of Porto", with corporate demand accounting for around 60% of the hotel's clients, while the remaining 40% are leisure clients.

OCCUPANCY ABOVE 80% WITH A SPOTLIGHT ON AMERICANS

According to Tiago Duarte, most of the customers at the Four Points by Sheraton Matosinhos are still Portuguese, but the American market has been growing, which he attributes to the brand behind the unit, which is also American. "The North American public has been growing in Portugal and, as we belong to a group that has one of the biggest hotel brands in the world, of North American descent, it would be strange if this market wasn't in the ranking," he said, explaining that, like Portugal, the Four Points by Sheraton Matosinhos has also "made exceptional progress in the North American market", which is already the second most representative in the unit, after the Portuguese.

In addition to these nationalities, Tiago Duarte says that European tourists are also among the main origins of the guests who have occupied the hotel's 108 rooms, with a special focus on nationalities such as Spain, due to its proximity, but also the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany and the Nordic countries, without forgetting the public from Brazil, which has also registered a "very visible demand" at the Four Points by Sheraton Matosinhos. "But I would say that the majority are European tourists, if we leave aside the question of the brand, the European market is always on the rise," he explained. Despite admitting that the first year of operation "wasn't an example", not least because the COVID-19 pandemic was still being felt, Tiago Duarte explains that, since then, occupancy rates have been rising and, last year, they were around 80%. "Occupancy rates have always been very high, which also goes hand in hand with what the destination has been, and when I say destination, I'm not just talking about Matosinhos becausewe're going to Porto, which goes hand in hand with the hotel's projection," he explained.

Therefore, the balance of the first two years of operation can only be positive. "It's an extremely positive balance, in fact, to be honest, I think it's even more than we had anticipated," he admits, explaining that the Four Points by Sheraton Matosinhos has been growing steadily, which has even earned the unit several awards and distinctions, including from Marriott International itself, which in the first year recognized the hotel as the best in the EMEA region - Europe, Middle East and Africa, even awarding it the prize for best in the world the following year. "Since we opened, and we mustn't forget that we opened during the pandemic, it seems like a long time ago, but it's been a very, very, very interesting journey and one that has really made us proud and very calm about what we do every day. This is what has been exceptional," he said.

SUNDAY BRUNCH AND BAR REPLACEMENT ARE NEW

But Tiago Duarte explains that the Four Points by Sheraton Matosinhos also wants to establish a special relationship with the local community, which is why it recently launched a novelty, consisting of brunch on Sundays, an offer that didn't exist in the city of Matosinhos and which, according to the manager, has attracted many local customers, especially families. "Brunch is our latest novelty in terms of gastronomic service at the hotel and it aims to respond to a certain mindset that we have and that leads us to want to get involved with the community," said the hotel manager, explaining that this offer "aims to expand that connection, but with a more family-oriented feel", not least because on Sundays the Four Points by Sheraton Matosinhos also has activities for the little ones, so parents can "leave the children with a monitor and have a gastronomic experience". "We see this option as the brunch of the neighborhood, because we're in a central location, with lots of families around and who, at the weekend, have a reason to bring their children and relax after a working week," he added, revealing that "it was thinking a lot about those who live next door and to give them another reason to come to Matosinhos" that the unit bet on this concept. And, for the time being, it's going "very well".
The unit's plans also include the repositioning of the hotel bar, with Tiago Duarte explaining that the aim is also to make it more geared towards the local community, so that this space can function as a kind of "meeting point before or after dinner". "By the end of the year, we'll have repositioned the bar, but I can guarantee that we'll always look at the local market because that's what will set us apart," explained Tiago Duarte, considering that "a hotel must always find reasons to be revisited", so the bar at the Four Points by Sheraton Matosinhos will also soon have new features.
In addition to the Sunday brunch and the bar, where you can have light meals as well as drinks, the Four Points by Sheraton Matosinhos also has the well-known Leitaria Quinta do Paço, which has an outside entrance, as well as other public areas such as the gym, meeting room and garage.

ASCENSION TRAIL

Tiago Duarte is a new generation Hotel Manager whose career path has always been on the rise. After completing his degree, he did an internship at the Pestana Palacio do Freixo, Pousada & National Monument, where he spent more than a decade, passing through various professional stages.
"I joined the Palácio do Freixo as a trainee and left as Hotel Manager. I went through the whole process and didn't think it would be possible, but I can tell you that the opportunities came along at exactly the right time," he told Publituris, explaining that the end of his degree coincided with the start of the tourism boom in the city of Porto, which has led to the opening of several accommodation units.

After his curricular internship, Tiago Duarte became the F&B assistant to the deputy director of the Palácio do Freixo and later went on to lead the unit's F&B department. In 2015, he finally became Hotel Manager of this five-star hotel in the city of Porto, a position he held for five years and only left after being invited by Mercan and Marriott International to open the future Four Points by Sheraton Matosinhos, which would open in the middle of the pandemic.

"I bet on a new group that was opening a new hotel for the biggest hotel brand on the planet. And it was a big challenge because we opened in the middle of a pandemic," explains Tiago Duarte, who is proud to have been able to open a hotel like the Four Points by Sheraton Mat in March 2022.The hotel manager is proud of his professional career, but says he hopes to one day open a hotel in a conventional way, because opening a hotel with these dynamics, with these changes in speed, was very difficult.
Today, he is proud of his professional career, but says that one day he hopes to "open a hotel in a conventional way, because opening a hotel with these dynamics, with these changes in speed, was very, very different," he concluded.