Fred Pontin didn’t invent the package holiday craze, but he was one of its key pioneers. In the early 1960s, trips abroad were still largely the preserve of the wealthy or the adventurous. Pontin, however, believed foreign holidays could be transformed into a mass-market product if he made them cheaper – and a little less foreign. Or, as he liked to put it: “Blackpool with sun.” That meant serving familiar British food and drink, hiring British entertainers, and ensuring there were plenty of British staff at the airports and hotels to guide holidaymakers and hold their hands along the way.
The Pontins board showed little interest in his idea, so he struck out on his own. He formed a private company, Pontinental Holidays, and partnered with a Spanish firm. Backing came from American Express, which invested £50,000 for a million shares. In 1963, the venture opened its first resort: the 150-room Pineta Beach Hotel in Sardinia, built at a cost of £400,000. Holidays were marketed at £45 per person for two weeks, including flights, airport transfers, and all meals.
Unfortunately everything went wrong including theft of equipment, strikes, shady contractors and frequent power outages. The first guests arrived to find the hotel unfinished, much to the delight of the British press back home. The hotel finally opened in September 1963, a month later than planned.
The following year, Pontin opened the Cala Mesquida resort in Majorca, which, like Pineta Beach, suffered a host of teething problems. No fewer than three British managers came and went during its first season. That same year, the company also acquired an existing hotel in Ibiza, while Pontin himself persuaded the board of Pontins Ltd to advance a £350,000 loan to Pontinental.
Losses quickly began to mount, and on several occasions the Pontins board was persuaded to inject additional funds – all personally guaranteed by Fred Pontin. Although many of the operational problems were gradually ironed out, Pontinental was still running at a loss, estimated at £250,000 over its first two years. In 1966, Pontins formally acquired Pontinental in a share exchange offer worth £500,000 – for every 25 Pontinental shares the holders would receive seven Pontin’s shares. This represented a substantial loss for the original investors. At the same time the partnership with the Spanish company was dissolved, with the latter taking control of the Ibiza hotel.
Pontinental gradually began to turn a profit, and British holidaymakers were starting to slowly embrace the new overseas experience – many even referring to their hotel rooms as “chalets”. In 1970, the company pressed ahead with construction of their third site, the new Hotel Pontinental in Torremolinos, Spain. It proved so popular that five years later a second similar hotel was built next door.
Always keen on publicity, Fred Pontin even used horse racing to promote his brand. One of his horses, Cala Mesquida, won the 1970/71 Schweppes Gold Trophy, while another carried the name Go Pontinental. Pontin reportedly instructed his trainers and jockeys that the horses must always finish in the first three or four places – ensuring that the commentator would keep repeating their names throughout the race.
In 1973, Pontins acquired a 92% stake in SA Holiday Club of Luxembourg for £1.25 million. The company owned or leased six resorts in Majorca, Spain, Greece, and Morocco. These new properties weren’t initially branded under the Pontinental name but kept their old Holiday Club name. They were advertised as being “for the more adventurous traveler” as the food, entertainment, and overall experience were far more local and authentic. As the 1976 Pontins brochure put it: “If you like only English habits, like bingo, and chips with everything, then Holiday Club is probably not for you.”. By the early-1980s people had become more used to foreign experiences so all the resorts were grouped together under the name Holiday Club Pontinental.
By the late 1970s, Pontinental had become highly successful, accounting for around 20% of Pontins’ annual profits. In 1978, the Pontins company was acquired by Coral, which itself was later taken over by Bass. Following the takeover, Bass transferred the Pontinental resorts into its Horizon Holidays division, where they were marketed under the name Holiday Club International (HCI). With this change, the Pontinental name was quietly retired.
List of Pontinental Holiday Club resorts
Pineta Beach Resort, Sardinia
The first ever Pontinental resort opened in 1963 at a cost of £400,000 (equivalent to over £10 million today). At its heart was a three-storey, 170-bed hotel, later complemented by 50 small self-catering bungalows scattered across the 50-acre grounds. Remarkably, the site is still operating today and looks much as it did in the 1960s – though its original swimming pool has since been replaced by a larger modern version. It is now known as the Villaggio Dei Pini Hotel.
Cala Mesquida, Majorca
Opened in 1964 as the second Pontinental resort, the site featured simple brick chalets set among pine trees beside a picturesque beach. Each chalet consisted of a single room with a bed, wardrobe, and sink, while guests used communal bathroom blocks dotted across the grounds. In 1965 the resort was expanded, doubling in size with the addition of two-storey “luxury” chalets, each equipped with private bathrooms. A new 180-bed hotel followed in 1971, bringing total capacity to around 700 guests.
The resort remained under Pontins’ ownership until the late 1980s, when it was sold and later mostly demolished. By 1999 a new holiday complex had opened on the site, with little surviving from the Pontins era – the original small chalets are gone, replaced by three modern hotels. Fred Pontin once owned a villa in the village.
Pontinental Torremolinos, Spain
The third location was opened in 1970, and in 1975 a second similar hotel was built next door. The two became known as Pontinental I and II: the original offering an outdoor pool and tennis courts, while the newer addition featured an indoor pool and conference facilities. Guests were free to move between the two. The two buildings were later sold off independently and are now run as separate businesses. The original 1970 hotel is known as the Ibersol Torremolinos Beach Hotel while the 1975 building is known as the Hotel Puente Real. The road that runs down beside the complex is still named Calle Hotel Pontinental
The following 6 resorts were all acquired during the acquisition of SA Holiday Club in 1973. Some were owned by Holiday Club while others were leased.
Club Tropicana, Majorca
Acquired during the 1973 buyout of SA Holiday Club. 356 rooms scattered over 25 acres. Some rooms in hotel, others in chalets in the grounds. Still open as Club Hotel Riu Tropicana
Club M’Diq, Morocco
Built 1969 and located on the edge of a large beach with direct access. 300 rooms. Demolished 2000 and the land used to build the Sofitel Tamuda Bay resort which opened in 2016.
Poseidon, Greece
Acquired during the 1973 buyout of SA Holiday Club. Still open but extensively enlarged and rebuilt, looks totally different today. Now the Wyndham Loutraki Poseidon Resort
Eldorado Resort, El Arenal, Majorca
Acquired during the 1973 buyout of SA Holiday Club. Still open today as Sun Club El Dorado
Club Del Sol, Malaga
Acquired during the 1973 buyout of SA Holiday Club. The buildings are still standing, and it still looks much the same, but at the time of writing it appears to be closed. Click here to see it on Google Maps
Club Romantica, Majorca
Acquired during the 1973 buyout of SA Holiday Club. Still open as Cala Romantica
Other resorts connected to Pontinental/Holiday Club
None of these were owned by Pontins/Holiday Club, some were leased, and in others they were acting purely as booking agents, along with several other companies.
Hotel Zorna, Zelana Laguna, Yugoslaivia
Known in the early days as Hotel Lotos II. Still open today as Hotel Zorna Plava Laguna.
Club Olympia, Evia, Greece
Still open and now called Palmariva Beach Hotel
Ten Bel, Tenerife
The resort was launched in 1963 by Belgian entrepreneur Michel Albert Huygens, who built more than 2,000 apartments along with shops, a chemist, a post office, and the island’s first shopping centre. 8 complexes under the umbrella name of Ten-Bel were built. These were Alborada, Frontera-Primavera, Carabela, Drago, Eureka, Bellavista, Maravilla and Gemini and could accommodate over 5000 holidaymakers. Now ,mostly closed and falling into ruin.
To read more about Sir Fred Pontin and the history of Pontins Holiday Camps read our blog post here. We’ve also covered the history of several other Pontin camps which can be seen in our A-Z blog index.
We’d love to hear your memories and stories of Pontinental and Holiday Club. Please feel free to leave a comment below.
