Inside the Paradores Approach to Guest Experience

At this year’s edition of FITUR, I had the opportunity to speak with Carlos Martínez at the stand of Paradores. Our conversation focused on the evolving Paradores guest experience and how technology, guest feedback, and heritage hospitality combine to shape one of Spain’s most distinctive hotel brands.

For nearly a century, Paradores has occupied a unique position in Spanish tourism. Its hotels are not only places to stay. Many are historic castles, monasteries, or convents that embody the country’s cultural heritage.

Yet the company’s leadership understands that heritage alone does not guarantee relevance. Today, guest experience must also be measured, analyzed, and continuously improved through data. During our discussion, Carlos shared how Paradores balances these two worlds: historic authenticity and modern guest intelligence.

Takeaways

The Paradores guest experience combines historic heritage properties with modern guest intelligence systems.

Guest feedback platforms like ReviewPro help identify operational improvements across the hotel portfolio.

Paradores integrated its Director of Guest Experience into the executive committee to strengthen strategic alignment.

A €300 million modernization program is underway to upgrade infrastructure across the portfolio.

New Paradores in Ibiza and Veruela will continue the brand’s mission to support tourism across diverse destinations.

A hotel brand built around heritage

Paradores operates close to 100 hotels and more than 100 restaurants across Spain, as well as a franchise property in Portugal. However, its real differentiator lies in the locations of these hotels.

Many Paradores are housed in protected historical buildings. Guests might stay in a medieval castle, a restored monastery, or a former convent. These properties are often classified as protected cultural heritage sites. This approach shapes the entire Paradores guest experience.

According to Carlos, guests do not simply book a room. They come to experience Spain’s cultural story. The building, the gastronomy, and the surrounding destination are all part of a larger narrative.

However, these locations also create operational complexity. Running a hotel inside a protected historical structure requires careful maintenance, regulatory compliance, and continuous investment.

Each property presents unique constraints. Opening a new Parador often feels like launching a completely new hotel concept.

At Paradores, the experience is not only the building or the stay. It’s also the gastronomy, the history, and the way we share Spain’s cultural heritage with our guests.

Carlos Martinez

Why data matters in the Paradores guest experience

For many years, hoteliers frequently spoke about guest experience without having the tools to fully understand it. That situation has changed dramatically. Carlos explained that Paradores began its digital transformation in 2017. Since then, guest data has become central to decision-making.

Today, the company uses platforms such as ReviewPro to consolidate feedback from online reviews, surveys, and reputation metrics. These insights allow the organization to identify operational friction points across the portfolio. The goal is simple, stop guessing what guests want.

Instead, hotel teams analyze feedback patterns to determine what truly influences satisfaction and loyalty. These insights then guide improvements in service delivery, communication, and experience design.

Guest feedback systems have become a powerful operational compass for hospitality leaders. Understanding how to collect and interpret that feedback is now essential for hotel operators. For those exploring this topic further, Shiji Insights recently examined practical strategies for gathering and using guest survey data.

Putting the guest at the center of leadership

Technology alone cannot transform guest experience. Organizational structure must also support it. Three years ago, Paradores made a strategic decision to bring its Director of Guest Experience into the company’s executive committee. This change formalized guest experience as a leadership priority.

Carlos described the reasoning clearly: it is easy to say that the guest is at the center of the organization. However, unless decision-making reflects that principle, it remains a slogan rather than a strategy.

By integrating guest experience into executive governance, Paradores ensured that reputation insights and guest feedback now influence strategic planning at the highest level. The results are visible in the company’s performance metrics.

Strong loyalty signals from guest feedback

Guest sentiment data provides an important indicator of whether experience strategies are working. Paradores reports a Net Promoter Score close to 65, a strong signal of guest loyalty in the hospitality industry.

A high NPS typically reflects a deeper pattern of guest loyalty. It signals that guests trust the brand, that their stay delivered a memorable experience worth repeating, and that they are likely to recommend the hotel to others. In practice, it indicates that the experience goes beyond meeting expectations and creates a positive impression that guests actively share with friends, family, and colleagues.

For Paradores, this loyalty is particularly significant because many properties are located outside major tourist hubs. Guests often travel specifically to stay at a Parador. In some cases, the hotel itself becomes the destination.

Supporting tourism beyond major cities

Paradores was originally created with a national tourism mission. The brand continues to play an important role in promoting destinations beyond Spain’s most crowded urban centers. Many of its properties are located in inland regions where private hotel investment would be limited. As a result, the opening of a Parador often catalyzes local tourism development. Local ecosystems tend to grow around these hotels.

Restaurants, tour operators, artisan producers, and regional suppliers all benefit from increased visitor flows. Paradores reinforces this connection by prioritizing local gastronomy and regional products across its restaurants.

This model also supports a broader objective for Spain’s tourism industry: reducing seasonality and distributing tourism more evenly across the country. In this sense, the Paradores guest experience extends beyond the hotel itself. It includes the destination and the community surrounding it.

A major investment in modernization

While heritage buildings define the brand, maintaining them requires significant investment. Paradores is currently undertaking a large modernization program worth more than €300 million. The project will continue for roughly two and a half years.

The objective is not to change the character of the properties. Instead, the investment focuses on improving infrastructure, comfort, and operational efficiency.

Many of these upgrades respond directly to guest feedback. Data gathered through reputation platforms has helped identify areas where infrastructure improvements would have the greatest impact on satisfaction.

This approach illustrates how guest intelligence now informs capital investment decisions across the hospitality sector.

Two new Paradores opening soon

Looking ahead, the brand is preparing to expand its portfolio with two new properties. One of the most anticipated openings is the new Parador in Ibiza. Unlike the island’s traditional tourism model, the property will operate year-round. The intention is to highlight Ibiza’s cultural and historical identity beyond the summer season.

Another Parador will open in the Veruela area near the Moncayo region in northern Spain. This project reinforces the company’s long-standing commitment to supporting lesser-known destinations. Both openings reflect Paradores’ broader strategy: offering distinctive heritage experiences while contributing to regional tourism development.

What hospitality leaders can learn

The Paradores model is difficult to replicate because it combines historic architecture, government ownership, and a national tourism mission. However, the strategic lessons are widely relevant for hotel operators.

First, guest experience must be measurable. Data platforms and reputation management systems now provide the insights needed to understand guest expectations at scale.

Second, guest experience requires leadership ownership. Integrating experience strategy into executive governance ensures that feedback translates into action.

Finally, destination integration matters. Hotels that connect their experience to local culture and community create stronger emotional connections with guests.

Conclusion 

Our conversation at FITUR highlighted how the Paradores guest experience continues to evolve. The brand remains deeply rooted in Spain’s cultural heritage. Yet it also embraces modern tools that allow hotel teams to understand guest expectations more precisely than ever before.

This combination of tradition and data-driven decision-making explains why Paradores remains one of the most distinctive hospitality brands in Europe. For guests, staying at a Parador is more than accommodation. It is an invitation to experience the history, culture, and landscapes that define Spain.

Watch the full episode here (in Spanish)