Hilton to open in three-tower Clot d’Emprivat development in Escaldes

The luxury hotel offer in Escaldes will expand with the opening of a Hilton in one of three towers to be built on the Clot d’Emprivat site, where the United Nations park and car park once stood. The project is promoted by the family-run group led by Josep Batalla, founder of the Besthotels holding — the fifth-largest hotel company in Spain and the largest in Catalonia — which operates about 40 properties: around 37 in Spain, two in Punta Cana (with two more planned) and one in Andorra, the Andorra Center.

Batalla is behind two of the three towers, with Josep Maria Civil supervising the works; the second tower will be used for housing. The third tower is led by Reyna. The developers agree on preparing the land to build a covered parking facility of 132 spaces to hand over to the parish in exchange for the mandatory cession required by the urban plan and the relevant building permits, a contribution valued at roughly €6 million. Site preparation began earlier this month and, according to the promoters, everything is ready to start construction at the beginning of next year.

The three towers are planned to share a pyramidal style with variable massing up to a maximum of 20 storeys. Construction is expected to last about 36 months in total — roughly 14 months for foundations and 20 months to erect the structures — with a total cost per 20-storey building of around €30 million.

Bringing the first Hilton to Andorra is presented by backers as a qualitative step to position the principality as an exclusive destination, aligning with local tourism promotion efforts that aim to prioritise quality over quantity. Hilton is one of the world’s largest and best-known chains, with more than 9,000 properties and 1.3 million rooms across more than 140 countries; the brand’s international expansion mixes directly owned properties and franchise agreements, with the franchise model expected for the Andorra entry.

Batalla’s decision to house the Hilton on land and in a building owned by his group reflects Besthotels’ long-standing strategy of acquiring land and developing hotel complexes, which has allowed it to build a property portfolio reportedly exceeding €1 billion. The group reinvests annually to renovate and upgrade its hotels; of its roughly 40 establishments, most are four-star, only two are three-star, and it operates five-star hotels in Punta Cana and Tenerife. Founded in the 1980s, Besthotels focuses on beach destinations across Spain while maintaining a presence in Barcelona and Madrid, and is now expanding further in the Dominican Republic. In 2023 the group reported revenues of €242 million and net profits of €22 million, surpassing its pre-pandemic turnover.

The plan to build the three towers has also provoked a political dispute between the current and former parish administrations. The previous administration approved tall buildings on the site, while the current administration has been criticised for not using available tools to modify building massing. Observers note that, beyond public exchanges of blame, no substantive changes have been made to the project.