A licensed boutique hotel 15 minutes from Alicante: is it worth investing in?

Part 1

1. The short answer: yes, for the right investor

This is not a flat to let out in summer. It is a hotel business ready to launch, built on a property that keeps its value as a large Mediterranean residence. That dual nature is what makes it interesting.

Four reasons support it:

• Demand. Hotels in Alicante city had average occupancy of 77% over the last twelve months published, against 69% for Spain as a whole. For the estate’s units, the business case projects average occupancy of 69%, in line with similar-sized properties in the Alicante market.
• Timing. In San Vicente del Raspeig itself there are fewer active holiday rentals than a year ago, and those still trading earn more: 29.8% more on average.
• Scarcity. Getting a licence to host tourists today is increasingly difficult, and here one already exists.
• The groundwork is done. Facilities, licence and an operating model with professional management: the resort can run without starting from scratch.

Part 2

2. Why we selected it

At SpainINT we are not a traditional estate agency. We work mainly on the buyer’s side, and we speak from our own experience of buying, managing and operating property in Spain. So when a project appears in Select, it means something: we have studied it and we believe it is worthwhile.

In this resort we see a rare opportunity for two very different profiles. One is the investor looking for a tourism business with everything in place. The other is the private buyer looking for an exclusive property to enjoy a special lifestyle in Spain.

Part 3

3. What you are buying

Part 4

4. Two ways to enjoy this resort

Part 5

5. Living here: what the figures do not show

For many buyers, returns are only half the decision; the other half is what life there is like. The estate combines what northern Europeans value most: sunshine all year round on a south-facing estate, nature on the doorstep, privacy, and a city and international airport a quarter of an hour away.

Quality of life near Alicante

Climate: Mild winters and plenty of sun

Climate

Mediterranean

Sunshine

more than 300 days a year

The estate

south-facing, with sun in winter too

Alicante has one of the kindest climates in Europe. The estate faces south and gets sun all day long, in winter too: the terrace and the pool can be enjoyed well beyond the summer.

Alicante harbour on a February day. Photo: acediscovery, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0), cropped.

Nature: Hills on the doorstep, sea in view

Trails

on foot, straight from the estate

Surroundings

rural and protected, according to the sales particulars

Views

towards the coast and the sea

According to the sales particulars, the estate gives direct access to an extensive protected rural area, where building is not permitted, with trails for walking for hours. That guarantees peace and privacy.

Sunset from one of the estate’s terraces.

Access: Half of Europe 17 minutes away

Alicante-Elche airport

≈ 17 min · 19.95 million passengers in 2025

Valencia

≈ 1 h 45 by car

Madrid

≈ 2 h 30 by high-speed train (AVE) from Alicante

Alicante-Elche airport broke its record in 2025, with almost 20 million passengers, 87.5% of them on international flights. It is still growing in 2026: up 9.9% to August.

Alicante-Elche airport. Photo: CybJubal, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0), cropped.

Leisure: Beach, golf and city

San Juan beach

15–20 min

Golf

El Plantío, Alicante Golf and Bonalba, about 15 min away

Central Alicante

≈ 15 min: promenade, harbour and culture

San Juan beach, three golf courses and central Alicante are all roughly a quarter of an hour away. City life is close by, but you cannot hear it from the estate.

San Juan beach. Photo: Zarateman, Wikimedia Commons (CC0).

Setting: A university and EU institutions

University of Alicante

≈ 10 min · almost 25,000 students

EUIPO

around 1,175 staff from all over Europe

The University of Alicante campus is in San Vicente del Raspeig itself and welcomes around a thousand international students every academic year. The European Union Intellectual Property Office has its headquarters in Alicante. Both generate visits and long stays all year round.

University of Alicante campus. Photo: Etnacila, Wikimedia Commons (public domain).

International community: Feeling at home

Foreign residents

one in four in the province

Communities

British, Dutch, German, Belgian and Nordic

The province of Alicante has the highest proportion of foreign residents in Spain. For buyers from northern Europe, that means services, schools and neighbours who speak their language, and visits from family and friends.

Explanada de España, Alicante. Photo: Nicolas Vigier, Wikimedia Commons (CC0).

SpainINT map with data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Approximate location; the exact location is provided to interested parties. Times to the city centre, the airport and the beach are taken from the sales particulars; the rest are SpainINT estimates using the same criteria.

Part 6

6. The advantages

1. A hotel licence, just as holiday letting gets harder

In practice, a tourist accommodation licence is its entry in the Tourism Register. In the Valencia Region, letting a home to tourists is becoming increasingly complicated:

• A holiday home’s registration expires after five years and has to be renewed with a new report from the town hall.
• Each stay is limited to ten consecutive days.
• Since April 2025, opening a new holiday let in a building with shared ownership requires the approval of three-fifths of the owners’ association.
• If the property changes hands, the buyer has to apply for registration all over again.

A hotel is governed by different rules. This estate is registered as a three-star aparthotel, open all year round. That translates into several practical advantages:

• It does not expire. A hotel registration has no expiry date: it remains valid as long as the establishment is trading and meets the requirements.
• There is no owners’ association to ask for permission, because the whole estate belongs to a single owner.
• Changing the holder is simple. After the purchase, it is notified to the tourism authority with a responsible declaration, online and free of charge.
• Each unit can have its own kitchen. The aparthotel is the only hotel category that allows this, something much valued by families and by guests staying for several weeks.

2. Everything is built and equipped

Starting from scratch would mean finding land, obtaining permits and building: years of red tape before welcoming the first guest. Here the foundations are in place from day one, and the Mediterranean garden, which takes decades to grow, is already mature. The solar panels with batteries also cut one of the most significant fixed costs of accommodation with pools and a wellness area.

3. Well connected to Europe

Connectivity underpins demand. Alicante-Elche airport, about 17 minutes away, keeps setting records: almost 20 million passengers in 2025, the vast majority on international flights, and 9.9% more between January and August 2026. For a hotel like this, that means guests from all over Europe just a short flight away, and an easy break outside the summer too.

4. An area that does not live on summer alone

That climate draws travellers in winter too, and the hotels feel it. Those in Alicante city had average occupancy of 77% between September 2025 and August 2026, against a Spanish average of 69%, and beat it in eleven of the twelve months.

Demand is also growing and highly international:

• The Valencia Region welcomed 12.4 million international tourists in 2025, 4.2% more than the previous year. Between January and August 2026, arrivals were up 9% on the same period of 2025.
• In the province of Alicante, 60% of hotel nights are spent by travellers who live abroad.
• Fibre broadband opens the door to winter residents and remote workers.

5. A flexible model and two possible exits

The combination of self-contained units, a professional kitchen, bar, dining room and wellness area makes several formats possible:

• letting by unit;
• packages;
• group stays;
• retreats;
• long stays;
• later on, a breakfast or restaurant concept.

What is more, the estate appeals to two very different buyers: a hotel operator and a family looking for a large residence with room for guests. That dual appeal widens the pool of potential buyers on the day you decide to sell.

6. A reasonable entry price

For €1,950,000 you buy 767 m² of built space, or around €2,540 per square metre. In September 2026, homes were advertised at an average of €2,743/m² in Alicante city, €2,767/m² across the province and €2,100/m² in San Vicente del Raspeig, 12.6% more than a year earlier.

The estate’s price is below the first two averages and above San Vicente’s, but here it includes a 3,510 m² plot, two swimming pools, a wellness area, a professional kitchen and a registered hotel establishment.

To put the figure in context, hotel investment in Spain totalled €4,275 million across 194 transactions in 2025, around €22 million per deal. This estate offers a far more accessible way into the hotel business, in a market that is enjoying a very strong moment: the first half of 2026 was the best start to a year on record for hotel investment in Spain.

7. A purchase that can be structured efficiently

In Spain, anyone buying a resale property normally pays property transfer tax (ITP). In the Valencia Region it is 11% when the price exceeds €1 million: €214,500 in this case. But a transaction like this one allows other routes:

• Buying the business as a going concern. If you acquire the hotel as a going concern and, among other conditions, keep the business, its tax domicile and its staff in the Valencia Region for at least three years, ITP falls to 8%: €156,000.
• Buying with value added tax (VAT) under the reverse-charge mechanism. If you buy through a company entitled to deduct VAT and the seller waives the exemption, you declare and deduct the VAT yourself in the same return. That way it is not a cost to you, and you only pay stamp duty (AJD) of 2%: €39,000.
• Buying the owning company. Buying the shares of the limited company that owns the estate is generally not subject to ITP or VAT. In return, you take on the company’s history, so a prior legal and financial review is advisable.

These routes cannot be combined and each has its own requirements. For example, if the hotel is sold as a going concern, the transaction does not carry VAT. Your tax adviser will tell you which one fits your situation. The key point is that the difference between them can exceed €175,000.

Part 7

7. The holiday rental market, in figures

We have analysed holiday rental data for San Vicente del Raspeig, the resort’s municipality, over the last twelve months: October 2025 to September 2026. The data come from listings on the major booking platforms, with their prices, occupancy and revenue.

Less supply and more revenue per listing

In one year, San Vicente has lost more than a quarter of its active holiday rentals (26.9%), against a backdrop of ever-stricter rules for holiday homes. Those that remain on the market are earning more: their average revenue rose by 29.8%, the average nightly rate by 22.8% and occupancy by 9.7%.

For a licensed hotel, which does not depend on the rules for holiday homes, this combination of less competition and more demand is good news.

Winter is gaining ground

The low season is becoming less and less low. Between November and March, average occupancy of holiday rentals in San Vicente rose from 43% to 55% in a year, and in January, the quietest month, from 33% to 46%. May was the highest-earning month and August the one with the highest occupancy.

Guests also book about two months in advance and stay six nights on average. These are long stays, typical of families and groups, which make planning easier and mean fewer check-ins, check-outs and cleans per night sold.

Plenty of part-time supply: an edge for professional management

Most of the competition is only let for part of the year:

• 59% of listings are offered for 90 nights a year or fewer, and barely 13% are open for more than 270 nights.
• Two in three are sold only on Airbnb; barely one in four uses several platforms at once.

A hotel open all year round, with professionally managed pricing and a presence on several channels (booking platforms, direct sales, agencies and groups), has the edge in this market.

Nightly rate: the plan does not need to charge more than the area

Two- and three-bedroom villas with a pool are a scarce product in San Vicente: only four were active last month. Over the last twelve months they charged an average of €235 a night. A comparable luxury villa in the area, with three bedrooms, a pool and a jacuzzi, charges an average of €303. The business case sets an average rate of around €213 a night for the resort’s villas, from €140 in winter to €290 in July and August.

Even adding cleaning, which these data include in the price and the plan charges separately, the projected rate is in line with the area’s villas with a pool and well below the top benchmark. The plan does not depend on record prices.

Groups and celebrations: a segment that pays well

Among the highest-earning properties in the area, villas for groups of 10 to 16 people stand out: the top three generate between €74,000 and €114,000 a year. With six units, two pools, a professional kitchen and a dining room, the resort can compete in this segment too, letting the whole estate for family gatherings, celebrations, retreats or corporate teams. It is one more commercial channel for filling it, especially out of season.

How it fits with the business case

Average occupancy of holiday rentals in San Vicente was 59% over the last year. It is calculated on the nights each listing is open for booking, and most are let for only part of the year. That is why the business case does not use that figure as its benchmark, but rather that of similar-sized properties in the Alicante market (between 68% and 71%) and that of the city’s hotels (77%). The resort is a hotel open all year round, with professional management and sales across several channels, and its scenario projects average occupancy of 69%.

Part 8

8. What can it earn? The business case figures

For an investor, the key question is how much the resort can bring in. Our business case starts from holiday rental data for the estate’s exact location, cross-checked against a second data source and the area’s hotel statistics. These are its main figures for a stabilised year:

Three points to help you read these figures:

• It is a premium scenario, but a realistic one. The projected revenue per unit, around €43,000 a year on average, sits between the 75th and 90th percentiles of the Alicante market for properties of their size. That is above average, as befits a private estate with views, two pools and a wellness area, but well short of the extreme. Projected occupancy matches its segment, and rates are in line with those of villas with a pool in San Vicente.
• A second source confirms it. Using a different methodology, the villas’ target sits between the overall median and the upper-segment median, and the apartments’ target is even below the overall median, which leaves headroom.
• Results grow as the operation matures. The first year is budgeted prudently: it is the year for building bookings, reviews and reputation. From the second year onwards, with repeat guests, more direct sales and better-tuned pricing, results improve progressively.

From gross revenue, you deduct platform commissions, professional management, the estate’s running costs (local taxes, insurance, utilities, garden and pools) and a maintenance reserve. The business case details all these items year by year.

Part 9

9. What you should know before deciding

No investment is perfect. These are the points worth being clear about, and how they are addressed:

• It is a business, but you do not have to run it yourself. A hotel’s revenue depends on how it is managed. That is why the resort comes with an operating model and professional management ready to go. If you prefer, you can also run it yourself or entrust it to another operator.
• The key is filling nights, not raising prices. The plan charges rates in line with the area’s villas; its occupancy relies on opening all year round, selling across several channels and managing pricing professionally. That is where the work lies, and that is what the planned management is designed for.
• The first year is a ramp-up year. Bookings, reviews and reputation take time to build. The business case budgets for this prudently and expects results to improve as the operation matures.
• A resort with its own personality. With six units, results depend more on price and services than on volume. It works best as an exclusive proposition (wellness, retreats, groups, families or long stays) rather than as a conventional hotel.
• Nature rather than beachfront. The beach is 15 to 20 minutes away by car. For anyone seeking calm, space and privacy, that is an advantage, but the estate is not a beach hotel.
• Buying in Spain comes with entry costs. Adding taxes, legal fees and the other transaction costs, the cost of entry ranges from 4% to 13% of the price, depending on the structure. It pays to get that decision right from the start.

Part 10

10. What it really costs to get in

The price is not the whole investment. For an international buyer, taxes come on top of legal fees, advice and support with the purchase, plus the usual transaction costs. This table gives an order of magnitude based on the price of €1,950,000:

Part 11

11. The steps to invest with peace of mind

Part 12

12. About this opportunity