Meliá continues to grow with 4 Cuban hotels in the works

If Tony Cortizas could tell any story in the world about Meliá Hotels International, it wouldn’t be about how many rooms a property has, or the types of restaurants and bars it boasts.

Instead, Cortizas, vice president, global strategy, Meliá Hotels International, said he wishes the story of any one of Meliá’s more than 380 hotels in 40 countries worldwide would be about the experience itself, and the memories created there.

READ MORE: Melia introduces a $110M property in Dominican Republic

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Yesterday afternoon, Cortizas stopped by the PAX office prior to attending a luncheon at the King Edward Hotel, to deliver key updates on the Meliá brand.

Speaking with PAX exclusively, Cortizas delved into everything from sustainability practices to expansion plans, which include 58 new properties in the pipeline from Liverpool to China, Colombia to Albania and closer to Canada, a new Paradisus by Melia in Playa Mujeres and The Grand Reserve in Punta Cana.

Why Canada matters

According to Cortizas, Meliá Hotels International is 50 per cent resort, and 50 per cent urban hotel. It’s why their slogan is 'leisure at heart, business in mind.''

The company continues to be the number one resort hotel company worldwide, with 60 per cent of its portfolio in Europe, 23 per cent of the portfolio in the Americas, and the remainder scattered throughout Asia Pacific, which is a steadily growing market.

Despite only 23 per cent of Meliá’s portfolio being in the Americas, the region accounts for 44 per cent of the company’s overall revenue. Spain accounts for 40 per cent. The Canadian market is extremely important to Meliá, and there are currently 17 properties in the works.

Sustainably-driven new openings for 2018-2020

Meliá will open a number of properties in the next two years, and as sustainability continues to remain a critical issue, especially from a developmental standpoint, Meliá is committed to investing in smart builds, whether that’s by partnering with local communities, or ethically sourcing all local materials required to make a new hotel come to life.

The following properties are slated to open in 2018:

• Meliá Maputo (Mozambique)
• Meliá San Carlos (Cuba)
• Meliá Budva Petrovac (Montenegro)
• Meliá Ba Vi Mountain Retreat (Vietnam)
• Meliá Shanghai Parkside (China)
• Meliá Badung Dago (Indonesia)
• Meliá Ho Tram (Vietnam)
• Meliá Internacional (Cuba)
• Meliá Caribe Beach (Dominican Republic)
• Meliá Punta Cana Beach (Dominican Republic)

Melia Serengeti

The following properties will open in 2019:

• Meliá Cam Ranh Bay (Vietnam)
• Meliá Saidia Residences (Morocco)
• Meliá Albania (Albania)
• Meliá Algarve Montogordo (Portugal)
• Meliá Zhengzhou (China)
• Meliá Bintan (Indonesia)
• Meliá Chongding (China)
• Meliá White Sands (Cape Verde)

The following properties will open in 2020:

• Meliá Cartagena (Colombia)
• Meliá Chiang Mai (Thailand)
• Meliá Frankfurt (Germany)
• Meliá Lusofonia (Cape Verde)
• Meliá Lusofonia Residences (Cape Verde)
• Meliá Martinique (Martinique)
• Meliá Melaka (Malaysia)
• Meliá Puerto Ordaz (Venezuela)
• Meliá Punta Ancon (Cuba)
• Meliá Salamansa (Cape Verde)
• Meliá Xueye Lake Resort (China)
• Meliá Trinidad (Cuba)

Under the ME by Meliá brand, several new properties are coming soon, including the ME Doha, ME Barcelona, ME Sitges, and ME Dubai. The brand is heading east now, where Meliá is aiming to expand into the Southeast Asian market.

Major projects

Perhaps the most exciting news pertaining to the Canadian market, Cortizas told PAX, is happening in the Dominican Republic, at both the Meliá Caribe Tropical and The Reserve at Paradisus Punta Cana.

Originally built as two hotels and then joined into one, Meliá is separating it once more into two distinct hotels, the Meliá Caribe Beach, which will be family-friendly, and the Meliá Punta Cana Beach, an adults-only offering. The revamped property is slated for completion in early 2019.

Paradisus Playa Mujeres

One of the most exciting new concepts, Cortizas said, is a sports bar that centres around baseball, a beloved sport in the Dominican, and the food and beverage offerings will be Dominican.

Over at the Paradisus, The Grand Reserve is opening at the existing Palma Real.

"We opened the Reserve in 2009 as a seperate enclave: three restaurants, its own spa, a kids camp, swim-up suites - and it was a wild success," Cortizas said. "The Grand Reserve will be 350 suites, with the smallest suite being 800 square feet and the largest being 3,000 square feet. There will be eight restaurants, the spa, done by Natura Bisse, will be under our new brand, G Spa, and overall, the way that the exchange priveleges will work is that The Grand Reserve will have access to The Reserve and the rest of the resort, and The Grand Reserve is private: if you're staying in The Reserve, you can't go into The Grand Reserve. It's next level luxury and premium living as far as accommodations go."

Additionally, Paradisus Playa Mujeres will open in Q1 2019. The luxury hotel is a new build, and will be Mexico’s fifth Paradisus branded property, located 35 minutes from Cancun International Airport and 10 minutes from downtown.

A sustainable future

According to Cortizas, promoting corporate responsibility is extremely important to the Meliá brand, especially because many new and existing builds sit on beachfront, which, as a result of climate change, continue to struggle with erosion and pollution.

Touching on the growing concerns over plastic, Cortizas said:

“This is not strictly a hospitality problem, this is a massive mega trend that is driven by consumerism, authenticity, and demand.”

By the end of 2018, Cortizas emphasized that Meliá aims to cut all single-use plastics from its resorts.

Meliá is a luxury brand and being a part of that space means creating unforgettable memories and experiences that a client won’t find anywhere else. Many of the new builds, including the Meliá Serengeti, go above and beyond to promote a truly immersive, in-destination experience for guests.

Melia Caribe Tropical

“In the space of luxury, the key word here is ‘experience’,” Cortizas said. “They [travellers] want one-of-a-kind, unobtainable, intangible things; things that come and go, because it feeds into this idea of having an exclusive experience that the customer can own and talk about, because other people can’t have it.”

He continued:

“We’re working hard towards creating bespoke experiences that deliver on this expectation of gaining something truly unique from the travel experience.”

Learn more about the new and exciting projects at Meliá Hotels International!