Meliá continues Cuba expansion with five new hotels
Meliá Cuba has added five new hotels – constituting some 409 rooms – to its portfolio on the island in the first quarter of 2018.
The hotels are located in the heritage cities of Cienfuegos (Hotel La Union, Hotel Jagua and Hotel Meliá San Carlos) and Camagüey (Hotel Colón and Gran Hotel) and represent a new style of hotels for Meliá in Cuba, all being small to medium-size properties “with history” in exceptional historical buildings in destinations considered world heritage sites.
After the hotels’ adaptation is completed, Meliá will also add the new Hotel Innside Camagüey and three more hotels in the heritage city of Trinidad (a popular city near Cienfuegos) before 2020. The three new hotels in Trinidad are the Meliá Trinidad, Meliá Punta Ancón and the innovative Sol House Ancón, the result of the conversion of the current Hotel Ancón.
In line with Cuba’s strategy to diversify its tourism industry, with these new hotels Meliá aims to enhance the island tour segment, offering prestigious hotels with familiar brands in heritage cities along with experiences that help increase the number of visitors and their average length of stay.
Paradisus Los Cayos
Gabriel Escarrer, vice president and CEO of Meliá Hotels International, said: “Within the framework of our strong commitment to helping improve Cuban tourism, we have the opportunity to promote unique cities with exceptional tourism potential such as Cienfuegos, Camagüey, Santiago de Cuba, or Havana, guaranteeing the internationally-acknowledged Meliá service and quality standards from the east to the west of the island.
“The hotels in the new destinations which are already in operation will take on our Meliá brand (Meliá La Unión, Meliá San Carlos, Meliá Colón, Meliá Gran Hotel) and Innside by Meliá brand (Innside Cienfuegos Jagua and Innside Camagüey) once they have been fully adapted to the brand standards.”
At the end of 2018, Meliá will also open two new flagship hotels for the Cuban hotel industry in the popular destinations of Varadero and Cayo Santa María. The Meliá Internacional with 934 rooms and the Paradisus Los Cayos with 802 rooms – taking the total of new superior quality rooms opened by the company in Cuba during the year to more than 2,145.
Francesc Camps, deputy managing director of Meliá Cuba, said: “The new hotels offer us a great chance to show our commitment to the development of balanced and sustainable tourism in Cuba and to show the value that our brands can add.
“These hotels in heritage cities are well integrated with the cultural and social fabric of their destinations, and give us a chance to provide travellers with experiences focused on discovering more about the local culture and heritage.”
Lobby at Meliá San Carlos
