“Hotels Need To Help To Protect Destinations—Not Contribute To Their Destruction,” Says Spanish-American Hotelier Pablo Carrington

A hospitality visionary and the founder of the hotel management company behind some the best boutique hotels in Spain. A sustainability pioneer who believes hoteliers should focus on protecting the destinations in which they operate. Meet Marugal’s founder and CEO, Pablo Carrington.

Marugal: luxury boutique hotels

When Pablo Carrington first got into the hotel business, he wanted to introduce a new standard of boutique stay to the Spanish market. Two decades later, as the CEO and founder of Marugal, which manages some of Spain’s best hotels (and additional properties in France, Portugal, Switzerland and the U.K.), he believes it is time for hoteliers to rethink their approach.

“It is our responsibility to help to protect the destinations in which we operate, not contribute to their destruction,” he says.

Born in San Sebastián in the Spanish Basque Country, the son of a Californian father and Basque mother, travel played a major part in Carrington’s life from an early age. But it did not occur to him to make it his career until later.

“I studied in the U.S., then went into banking in Paris, before switching to strategic consulting. I had a great time, got fast tracked, but I remember looking at my bosses and thinking ‘I don’t want to be you’,” he recalls.

When an opportunity to arose to help manage the former family home in San Sebastián, which had recently been converted into a hotel, Carrington grabbed it with both hands. The rest, as they say, is history.

Some of the best boutique hotels in Spain

In 2003, Carrington founded Marugal, having identified a gap in the Spanish market for something “unique, different and personalized, that didn’t follow a big chain formula”. And, while ‘Margual’ may not be a household name, many of the hotels in the group are: from the ultra-stylish La Zambra that recently opened in the Costa del Sol, to one of Madrid’s best-loved boutique hideaways URSO, to barefoot chic Gecko Hotel & Beach Club in Formentera, and, last but not least, the jewel in Marugal’s crown, the exquisitely set and blissfully romantic Cap Rocat in Mallorca that more often than not features in lists of the best hotels in Spain.

“A league of its own”

“Marugal has given life to so many unique properties, each with its own character, and not like anything you might find in a big-name hotel chain,” says Andrés Galisteo, a Madrid-based Spanish journalist specializing in luxury travel and gastronomy for the likes of Esquire and Time Out Madrid.

“Marugal is in a league of its own, creating hotels for cosmopolitan travelers with one-of-a-kind design and top-notch services and gastronomy but, most importantly, always staying true to the essence of the destination,” Galisteo continues.

So, how did Carrington go about creating such a unique concept?

Isabelle Kliger: What does Marugal mean and what does it stand for?

Pablo Carrington: The name Marugal is the country house I had originally wanted to convert into a hotel, but I wasn’t able to convince the rest of my family. So, instead, I made the hotel company Margual. My vision was to create hotels with a unique identity that could be marketed independently, without the name of a chain behind them.

Kliger: How has your multicultural background helped you?

Carrington: Despite being such a huge international tourism destination, Spain used to have hotel industry that was quite inward focused; hoteliers weren’t traveling overseas to see other luxury hotels. I think that was one of the secrets to our success—at least in the early days. My background encouraged me to consider what I could adopt from other places I’d been to, like Asia, the U.S., France, and how I could create something that would appeal to people visiting us from those places.

Kliger: Can you tell us about a moment when you had to pivot and rethink your strategy?

Carrington: I have to say Covid, of course. Because it made us change our mindset. With countries opening and closing from one day to the next, we had to focus less on strategy and more on tactics. While we’ve always continued to invest in building the long-term brands, we also started using tools like social media to attract potential guests who might book a room for tomorrow or next week.

Kliger: What do you think modern hoteliers should be doing differently given the challenges we face as a society today?

Carrington: Nowadays, the first thing guests decide on is the destination and the second is the hotel. They come to Gecko, not because our receptionists are sexy, but because of Formentera and its amazing beaches; they come to URSO, not because of how many languages our staff speak but for the Madrid cultural scene. This is why I think hoteliers need to change the way they interact with the place where they’re located.

If you chose the location first and then my hotel, I need to make sure the destination maintains its attractiveness so you keep wanting to come here. I need to contribute to cleaning the beaches of Formentera; I need to help to make sure the 100-year-old mom-and-pop stores near the URSO in Madrid continue to exist. The reason people are coming is because the destination has an identity, be it nature, be it culture, and I believe hoteliers need to get much more involved in that.

Kliger: What are some examples of what you are doing to preserve the locations where your hotels operate?

Carrington: In Formentera, we contribute financially to initiatives to clean the beaches and protect the marine ecosystems. At Cap Rocat in Mallorca, we support three initiatives every year—one ecological, one cultural and one heritage related. We raise funds by charging three Euros per night per room and then matching that amount ourselves. This year, we’re supporting the protection of Mallorca’s endangered sea turtles, financing the restoration of the island’s historic windmills, and funding the museum dedicated to Frey Junipero Serra, the Mallorcan missionary who is honored in the Capitol in Washington as ‘the founder of California’.

Kliger: If you were only going to stay at one Marugal hotel this summer, which would it be and why?

Carrington: Gecko Hotel & Beach Club in Formentera. Because part of my job is to go to a hotel and spot all the imperfections, but that is the one hotel where I can actually relax. And if I can relax there, I have no doubt that our guests will be able to disconnect completely.