Not only was Ronaldo injured, he also received unpleasant news behind the scenes. More specifically, tennis player Rafael Nadal has cooperated with Melia group to open a hotel in Madrid to compete with Ronaldo. The king of clay courts and Melia announced the creation of the Zel brand, with the first hotel with 165 rooms opening in Palmanova, Mallorca last July. After opening the first Zel hotel, Nadal will open four new hotels throughout 2024, located in Mexico and Spain. In particular, there will be a new hotel on Gran Via, one of the main streets in Madrid, just a few steps from Ronaldo’s Pestana CR7 hotel.

Nadal opens a hotel in Madrid to compete with Ronaldo.

It is not out of place to recall Ronaldo, the Al Nassr striker who was honored at the “World Travel Awards 2023” award ceremony, also known as the “Oscar of travel”. Specifically, Pestana CR7 hotel located in Gran Via, Madrid was voted “Best Hotel in Spain” in 2023 (Spain’s Leadership Hotel 2023). This is the first hotel in Ronaldo’s hotel chain outside of Portugal. Currently, there are 5 different Ronaldo hotels located in and outside of Portugal, in Funchal, Lisbon, Madrid, Marrakech and New York respectively.

With an investment of 15 million euros, the 4-star hotel was “overhauled” according to the architecture of a building dating back to the 1920s. Each floor “is inspired by the sports values, present in the decoration and perfect expression in culture and atmosphere”. Located on one of the busiest streets of the Spanish capital, Pestana CR7 has 168 rooms of many different types, as well as a swimming pool or gym. At the top of the hotel on the 9th floor, there are restaurants with pizzerias and rooftop bars.

The only thing is, Ronaldo’s Pestana CR7 hotel is facing the ultimate challenge once Nadal’s 4-star hotel, Zel, comes into operation. Like it or not, Ronaldo will have to struggle to deal with the competition from Nadal in the near future.