Portuguese soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo opened his second CR7 Hotel in Lisbon on Sunday (October 2).
The 82 room hotel is the second of four that are part of the joint venture with the Pestana Group, one of Portugal’s leading hotel chains.
The 31 year-old player said he had to think about his future away from the pitch and starting a hotel chain was always on his mind.
“This is a unique moment in my life and it’s a moment to enjoy because life is not only about football. Obviously my great passion is football and it’s what I love the most but we need to think about the future. I don’t have many more years, more or less ten years to finish my career and I need to think about the future and this was always something that I’ve dreamt of,” he said during the opening ceremony.
The first unit was opened in Ronaldo’s hometown Funchal in the island of Madeira in July. Two more are planned in Madrid and New York City.
The partnership between Ronaldo and the Pestana Group is owned in equal parts and the overall investment in the four units will be 75 million euros, a Pestana Hotel Group news release said.
Ronaldo also owns a CR7 clothing and footwear line.
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016
