The Hong Kong hotel group Mandarin Oriental is to purchase the Punta Negra Hotel in Costa d'en Blanes. The four-star superior hotel will be the group's third in Spain; the other are the Mandarin Oriental Barcelona and the Mandarin Oriental Ritz Madrid. Part of the Jardine Matheson Group (which has its primary stock market listing in London), Mandarin Oriental is an international hotel investment and management group with luxury hotels and resorts in Europe, Asia and the Americas.

The company will be using its knowhow in converting the Punta Negra Hotel into a leading hotel for thalassotherapy and for business meetings and travel incentives. Its location has been a principal attraction for Mandarin Oriental.

The investment is being put at 135 million euros. This includes the purchase and the renovation of the 135 rooms; it works out, therefore, at a spend of one million euros per room.

The hotel has hosted some important meetings in the past. In the 1980s, there was a Spain-Italy summit, and the UN's Alliance of Civilisations summit was held at the hotel in 2005.

Mandarin Oriental's investment is just the latest by a foreign hotel group or investment fund. Much of this overseas interest is coming from North America. As an example, the Canada-based Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts is understood to be buying the Formentor Hotel from Barceló.