Hotel Marquesa

Hotel history

Hotel Marquesa, since 1887

The Irish arrived in the Canary Islands in the Seventeenth century. Among those who settled in Puerto de la Cruz was Bernard Walsh, known as Bernardo Valois, who worked in the import trade and distribution in the island’s market.

In the year 1700, Walsh inaugurated the Chapel of St. Patrick in the Parochial Church of Puerto de la Cruz, back then known as Puerto de La Orotava. In 1712 the he finished the construction of his house and business office in the town’s commercial, religious and social centre, located opposite the square of the Church of Our Lady of Peñafrancia. The house had a library which included over 700 books in French and English. At first, it housed the Walsh family with its servants but in 1798 it accommodated up to seven families, eight servants and the Consul of Genoa. The Walshes were related to other families such as the Cólogans and the main home housed different generations of Cólogans, who owned it until the Twentieth century. Up to four different Cólogan family members became mayors of Puerto de la Cruz.

Due to the family’s economic, political and social influence, the house was a retreat for many famous figures of the time, such as Alexander von Humboldt.

In the Mid-Nineteenth century, the so-called ‘health tourism’ began in the Canary Islands, partly due to the fantastic weather conditions the archipelago enjoys.

Hotel Marquesa

Since they had one of the most beautiful houses in the city, the Cólogan family opened in 1883 one of the most charming hotels in the whole of Tenerife, with glazed balconies overlooking the high street. The hotel was a domestic museum which preserved all of the family’s belongings and furniture and hosted many important social events.

Hotel Marquesa

Laura Micaela de Cólogan Franchi y Heredia held the title of Marquise of Candia since 1864, a name which would then be transferred to the hotel when she started to run it directly after the death of her husband Tomás Fidel Cólogan. Today, the hotel bears her name: Hotel Marquesa.

Hotel Marquesa

Among the many distinguished guests the hotel has had, one of the most important ones was the French composer Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns. Today, this beautiful house is one of the most emblematic hotels in the city, an outstanding symbol of Puerto de la Cruz’s historical hospitality industry whose interior still preserves its original and luxurious aristocratic heritage.