Our history

Our tradition of great customer service is based on a long history beginning at the Hotel el Fuerte, the pioneer hotel that opened in Marbella on the 4th of July 1957. This hotel was built next to the remains of "El Fuerte de San Luís"  (San Luis Fort) that lent its name to this, our first hotel and also to our company. Throughout the years the spirit of Fuerte de San Luís  has accompanied us and given us the strength to grow and offer our clients an even better service. It is this story, the story of our past, which we would like to share with you:

D. José Luque Manzano(on the left in the photo) bought the land and built the first hotel in Marbella, This was a great risk. This entrepreneur, both generous and imaginative, was born in Estepa, a town close to Seville, where he owned a chocolate factory and oil mill. His friends and family thought that he had left a good job in a prosperous town in favour of an adventure with little or no future, but time passed and proved D. José right. On the 15th of July 1957, D. José Luque Manzano gave a gala dinner to some 500 guests to open the first Hotel building, which had 33 rooms and the very first lift on the Costa del Sol.

D. José died in 1984 when the second generation took over the hotel, making it bigger and refurbishing it. Today, the company, which is still a family company, has six hotels, which retain the service, style, and comfort that began with the first hotel in Marbella in 1957, next to the Fuerte de San Luís.

In 2007, the year in which we are celebrating our 50th anniversary, Grupo El Fuerte has two hotels in Conil, one in Grazalema, and another in El Rompido, as well as a second hotel in Marbella.

The first hotel in Conil, the Hotel Fuerte Conil, was opened on the 12th of February 1999 and was followed by the second hotel in the town, the Hotel Fuerte Costaluz, which opened it’s doors on the 17th May 2004.

The second hotel in Marbella, the Hotel Fuerte Miramar, was opened to the public in 2001.

The smallest in the family, el Hotel Fuerte Grazalema, stands proudly in the Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park and opened in February 2002.

After that, Hotel Fuerte Rompido Suites, in the heart of the beauty spot at Río Piedras y flecha del Rompido. Its opening in 2005 at the foot of a golf course set everyone’s sights on a new concept in the hotel industry, and it was added to the list of sustainable hotels in the chain.

The brand new Fuerte Estepona Suites was opened in 2010 on the Costa del Sol, widening the range of accommodation offered by Fuerte Hoteles.

The group’s international venture is the Secrets Montego Bay hotel.

Since it was founded in 1945, The Agrodesarrollo Company has been dedicated to sustainable agriculture using the most up to date techniques available in production, yet always holding dear the philosophy of the group; care for people and for the environment.

The Fundación Fuerte (which takes its name from our first Hotel, El Fuerte), was the logical result of the values held for almost 50 years (1957-2007)

Design and Interior Design. Since 2003 after 15 years experience in both refurbishment projects and new interior design projects within the chain itself, EID also carries out projects for outside clients.