Pestana and Vila Galé among the top 130 largest hotel groups in the world

Portugal’s two largest hotel groups, the Pestana and the Vila Galé, are among the 130 largest in the world according the US’s Hotels Magazine.

Hotels Magazine carried out its evaluation based on the number of operational rooms by the end of 2023.

The Pestana group, based in Madeira, comes in at 105th place in the magazine’s ranking. The group led by José Theotónio has 12,006 rooms and 108 hotels, spread across 16 countries.

Vila Galé, on the other hand, appears in 122nd place, remaining in the same place as last year with 9,429 rooms in 42 hotels.

Compared to last year’s figures, Vila Galé had an increase of 934 rooms and five hotel establishments.

Pestana has more hotels than Vila Galé, but this number also includes Pestana’s historic charm hotels or ‘pousadas’ which are usually smaller.

The ranking includes the world’s largest groups, led by Marriott International with 1.56 million rooms and 8,566 hotels, followed by China’s Jin Jiang International with 1.34 million rooms and 13,250 hotels. Hilton ranks third with 1.18 million rooms and 7,530 hotels.