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Rafael Nadal is opening a new hotel. The Spanish tennis legend and entrepreneur is expanding his line of Zel Hotels made in partnership with Meliá Hotels International. Starting 2025, they’ll be opening their first location in Mexico, one of the world’s most visited destinations.
The hotel will be located in Sayulita, a town in the Mexican pacific coast, plans to bring some Mediterranean luxury and style to the beloved Mexican beaches. Per the Spanish publication El Economista, the hotel will feature 145 rooms all built surounding a central patio that’ll boast a vibrant and cozy environment.
This patio appears to be a staple of Zel Hotels. “The patio has been a staple of Mediterranean culture since the ancient Greeks, serving as a space for socializing,” said architect Alvaro Sans to Architectural Digest following the unveiling of the first Zel Hotel. “As architects, we find it to be the most beautiful place. By enclosing the open space, the patio creates a stage that is controlled by the architecture, with olive trees and the sound of water that relaxes the senses, inviting the sensations of vacation.”
In 2023, Nadal and Meliá Hotels unveiled their first collaboration, the Zel Mallorca. Located on the gorgeous Spanish island, the hotel invites guests to embrace the “‘fiesta and siesta’ concepts that are essential to the Mediterranean lifestyle,” as one press release succintly put it.
Zel Hotels boast with the amenities provided in luxurious hotels and have access to activities curated by Nadal himself, including concerts, excusions, and fitness programs.
Nadal described the concept of Zel Hotels in a press release and revealed that the locations are filled with some of his favorite activities in the world, with the aim of spreading that joy with others. “With our first ZEL hotel in Mallorca, and the concept that we have created for the brand, we are looking to offer those moments in life that I personally enjoy so much: sailing, particularly in the Mediterranean; eating on the beach, at a beach bar or in a beach club; and relaxing while spending time with friends and family, feeling at home,” he said.