The St. Regis Marbella resort, the Costa del Sol’s first St. Regis, will open by the dunes in 2031

Marbella is to get the Costa del Sol’s first St. Regis hotel: on 20 October 2026, the developers of the Las Dunas project signed with Marriott International for a resort with 169 rooms and 151 residences, due in early 2031. The site, more than 160,000 m² between pine woods and beach, runs along the sea for over 350 metres on the east side of town.

☰Contents

1. On 20 October, St. Regis chose Marbella
2. 169 rooms and 151 residences up to 1,000 m²
3. Where exactly are the 160,000 m² of Las Dunas?
4. Rockwell Group follows the slope to the sea
5. From the 2017 W Marbella to the 2031 St. Regis
6. Developers, not Marriott: who does what?

On 20 October, St. Regis chose Marbella

The agreement was signed in Marbella, in the presence of mayor Ángeles Muñoz, between Platinum Estates, Sierra Blanca Estates and Marriott International. The first, a Hong Kong-based real estate investment group, and the second, a Marbella-based developer, will run two entities: The St. Regis Marbella Resort and The Residences at The St. Regis Marbella Resort. St. Regis is one of Marriott’s luxury brands.

“Las Dunas has been part of our vision for Marbella since day one,” said Harry Mohinani, founder of Platinum Estates. For Jerome Briet, head of development for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Marriott International, Marbella “remains one of the most sought-after luxury destinations in Europe”.

169 rooms and 151 residences up to 1,000 m²

The hotel will have 169 rooms. Alongside it, 151 St. Regis-branded private residences, with two to five bedrooms, will range from about 150 to 1,000 m². Their owners will share several restaurants, a wellness area, sports facilities, pools and a beach club with hotel guests, but will come and go through an entrance separate from reception. Neither the restaurant names nor the prices have been announced yet.

Where exactly are the 160,000 m² of Las Dunas?

The plot covers more than 160,000 m² on the seafront at Las Dunas, in the Las Chapas area, between the beaches of Real de Zaragoza and Las Mimosas, backed by a strip of natural dunes. Beware of similar names: this is neither the Grand Hotel Las Dunas in Estepona nor the St. Regis Residences in Casares, at Finca Cortesín, an apartment scheme with no hotel. To place the project alongside the city’s historic addresses, see the grand hotels of the Milla de Oro.

Rockwell Group follows the slope to the sea

Architecture and interiors have been entrusted to Rockwell Group, with the Spanish firm AGAS as local architect. The buildings follow the natural slope of the land down towards the Mediterranean. According to the town hall, the project will open up some 110,000 m² of public space, restore nearly 50,000 m² of dunes and extend the coastal path by more than 500 metres, with 277 public parking spaces.

From the 2017 W Marbella to the 2031 St. Regis

The site was first earmarked for a W Marbella, another Marriott brand, announced on 27 March 2017 with Sunrise Inversiones 2015, a subsidiary of Platinum Estates. It took more than eight years of procedures: the regional government of Andalusia gave its final approval at the end of 2024, and the town hall granted the development licence in May 2026.

The project is still opposed by the Ecologistas en Acción Málaga association (Malaka), in the name of protecting the dunes. The developers reply that the land is zoned for building and pledge to restore and clean up the dunes. For Carlos Rodríguez, managing director of Sierra Blanca Estates, assembling a seafront plot of this size is “an opportunity that will not come round again”.

Developers, not Marriott: who does what?

Marriott International does not own, develop or sell the residences: the company Sunrise Inversiones 2015 SLU uses the St. Regis brand under licence. The developers put the investment at more than 500 million euros, a figure they were already citing in June 2025 when they set up their joint venture; it stood at 300 million when the W was announced in 2017. According to the town hall, construction should create more than 2,000 direct and 4,500 indirect jobs, followed by more than 450 permanent jobs.

On the same coast, Marbella is drawing other major projects, such as the Oakmond Marbella resort, formerly Incosol, due in 2029, while in Torremolinos Covivio is taking the Costa del Sol upmarket.