Sol Melia launches New Brand of Hotels - ME by Melia

Spanish hotel group Sol Meliá has launched ME by Meliá, a new brand of experience-based ‘personality’ hotels in select city and resort destinations around the world.

According to Sol Meliá Vice Chairman and CEO Sebastián Escarrer, “For over fifty years, Sol Meliá has been true to its core values of passion for life and high quality service. In our goal to remain one of the industry leaders and brand innovators, we launch ME by Meliá as a contemporary interpretation of the Meliá philosophy. Customers will be offered an unforgettable experience designed to reach them on numerous levels, and can be taken with them when they leave.”

For Escarrer, the ME by Meliá brand “is a significant development in the company’s continued understanding of the consumer and an expression of our commitment to anticipating their needs on a global level.”

ME by Meliá aims to provide guests with an experience beyond accommodation, with guest recognition being the new brand’s key point of differentiation. The ME by Meliá experience will be realized through the brand’s core mottos – Remember Me, Experience Me, Energize Me, and Dare Me.

Me By Meliá is managed by a team of professionals with experience in personalised attention. Guy Hensley, Director of Operations of the brand, contributes his own varied experience in directing this type of hotel.

The first hotel to open under this new brand is ME Madrid, the legendary Gran Hotel Reina Victoria located in the Plaza de Santa Ana of Spain’s capital city of Madrid. After it’s opening in October 2006, the brand will continue with additional openings in dynamic resort and urban destinations such as ME Cancun and ME Cabo San Lucas.

Each property in the ME by Meliá portfolio will include common threads which tie all of them together. Several key partners will help create these chic and fearless atmospheres around the world that are inspired by ME by Meliá’s core customer. Nightlife entrepreneur Rande Gerber, along with his brother Scott, founders of After Midnight Company, will create restaurants and lounges that will provide an opportunity for guests to be transported to places that are seductive and at times a bit daring. For ME Madrid, the Gerbers will fuse their signature bar and lounge concept with globe spanning cuisine helmed by star Spanish chef Jaime Renedo.

World-renowned architect Álvaro Sans collaborated with Keith Hobbs of United Designs and Rebeca Pérez of Interarq to create unique ME Hotels in Madrid, Cancun and Cabo San Lucas. Both design teams took turns creating atmospheres that are energetic, unpredictable, and allow for business and social interaction as well as private decadence.

Key features that will be consistent across ME by Meliá hotels include: WI-FI standard in each room, state-of-the-art CD/DVD home theatre system with a 32-inch interactive plasma TV, surround-sound speakers, an extensive library of CD's and DVD's in each room, iPod adaptors and connectivity docking stations and organic, all natural products by AVEDA, which can be enjoyed with luxurious rainfall showerheads. Additionally, guests who arrive without iPods may request a pre-set iPod with over 900 songs to use throughout their stay.

In addition to ME Madrid, ME Cabo San Lucas and ME Cancun, ME by Meliá hotels are planned in locations such as Barcelona, Seville and Palma de Mallorca. Sol Meliá will continue to seek out additional assets and locations as an ongoing corporate initiative.

See other recent news regarding: Melia, Branding