“And it’s very funny, because the Portuguese have a widespread idea that Sagres is very windy and very cold. But for us, as foreigners…I’m from Singapore, and British, my husband is Swiss-German. For us it was summer”fun account. “And we, foreigners and entrepreneurs, see things with different eyes. With different glasses. What we saw was a fantastic landscape, a white sand beach, everything clean, everything empty, with so much nature and very friendly and welcoming people.”
They took advantage of the EU funds that were becoming available, and the then-recent highways that connected the country from north to south. “Tourism of Portugal was working hard to build a strong sector”, he also recalls.
In 2010, Chitra and Roman welcomed the arrival of their fourth child and dedicated themselves to opening a family hotel – which welcomes couples who want to rest, but is particularly prepared to receive adults and children, offering baby-sitting, kids club and themed nights for the youngest, as well as menus that are suitable for babies from the moment they start to introduce soups into their diet.
A few years later they decided it was time to start moving up in the country and arrived in Cascais, through the purchase of the now Onyria Hotel, in Quinta da Marinha. It was 2015 “and there were several business opportunities in Portugal”, precisely due to the crisis which, in the meantime, was beginning to show some signs of easing. Martinhal Cascais marked the beginning of the journey of businesspeople in the capital area. After Cascais, it was the turn of Rua do Alecrim, where they opened Martinhal Chiado, the first family-friendly city hotel in the country – connecting rooms, service adapted to theater, concert or opera times and a privileged location in the historic center of Lisbon. And, if in 2022 they decided to sell Martinhal Cascais – the Pinto Coelho family, owner of the Onyria group, was in a position to acquire the asset back -, they continued to focus on Lisbon. Now, too, with an international school.
From hotels to schools
When she was part of the Portugal Inn government initiative, Chitra Stern realized that one of the reasons why the European Medicines Agency had not chosen Portugal for its new headquarters was the same one pointed out by many international companies: there was no international school in Lisbon that offered the IB Program. Something that the businesswoman had already missed when she moved with her children. This was how the United Lisbon International School was born, on the former premises of the Universidade Lusófona, with capacity for 600 students and a curriculum that was immediately distinguished by the British Dukes Education.
Today, ULIS also includes an Innovation Hub, will host residences for students – and has protocols with several national universities so that they can use them – and also an aparthotel to meet the high demand. “It’s not affordable housing, because that’s the government’s job, but we know that more houses are needed and we can integrate that into our project. It makes sense”, says the businesswoman.
For Chitra, education is closely linked to business, because that is how she looks at society: if everyone has access to the best, society prospers and the economy grows. “And we have to make the national economy grow”, he urges.