Meliá Hotels International remains firmly committed to emerging markets, which already account for 71% of its hotel pipeline
Meliá Hotels International announces the signature of three spectacular hotels at the Arab Hotel Investment Conference (AHIC) last week in Dubai:
- Gran Meliá Maldives, Indian Ocean – it will offer a mixture of luxurious private villa and guestroom living within one of the best fishing and diving destinations in the Maldives
- Meliá Serengeti Lodge, Tanzania, Africa – The first state-of-the-art sustainable hotel by MHI, the hotel will offer ‘off the grid’ living and the perfect viewpoint for the annual migration of one million blue wildebeest, lions, leopards and zebras
- Meliá Almaty, Kazakhstan, Central Asia - the first hotel to be signed by Meliá Hotels International in Kazakhstan - a wealthy country located in the heart of Eurasia (countries situated within the borders of Europe and Asia) - it will bring to life a new city hotel concept for corporate travellers and congresses
Gran Meliá Maldives, Maldives
Gran Meliá Maldives will be a
resort located in Kalhudiyafushi in Thaa, an atoll located 40 minutes from Male
International Airport, as well as a short ride by speedboat or seaplane from
the domestic airport at Kaadhedoo. Scheduled to launch October 2017, Gran
Meliá Maldives will be amongst the very best of the luxurious international
resorts, operated by brands such as Shangri-La, Park Hyatt and Jumeirah, as
guests can experience one of the best fishing destinations in the Maldives.
Set amongst virgin coral reef,
the Gran Meliá hotel will offer 95 private villas, including 100 rooms, as
well as three restaurants, a bar and café, spa, leisure centre and several
retail shops. The hotel will also be able to arrange and host exclusive private
events and romantic dinners on a smaller nearby island. 66 per cent of
Maldivian visitors are honeymooners or guests who wish to enjoy an idyllic
beach holiday with exceptional diving.
During the contract signing,
Maria Zarraluqui, Director of Expansion for Meliá Hotels International,
commented, "Opening a Gran Meliá hotel in the Maldives has been a dream
for us for a long time, but we were always waiting for the right project to
come along. This hotel meets all our expectations. We are confident that our
unique Gran Meliá brand will enhance the magic of these privileged islands,
giving a new meaning to the concept of luxury."
The Maldives consists of more
than 1,192 islands in the Indian Ocean, formed of two rows of 26 atolls running
from north to south. Both chains of atolls (the largest with an area of only 8
km2) are located approximately 700 km from Sri Lanka and 400 km south-west of
India. Due to its unique features and exceptional beauty, the Maldives has
become one of the most exclusive havens for tourism, mainly from Europe and
Asia, which now generates over 25 per cent of the country’s GDP, followed by
fishing which generates 60 per cent of foreign exchange receipts.
Meliá Serengeti Lodge, Tanzania
The future Meliá Serengeti is
scheduled to open in June 2017, and is located on the natural terraces on the
southern slopes of the hills of Nyamuma, with spectacular views over the
peaceful valley of the Mbalageti River. The hotel is about 45 minutes from
Seronera Airport in the Serengeti National Park, the oldest and most popular
National Park in Tanzania, on the western border of Lake Victoria, considered a
World Heritage Site.
Built 700 meters below the peak
of the hill, the hotel allows a perfect viewpoint for the annual migration of
one million blue wildebeest, thousands of lions and leopards and 250,000
zebras, which pass through the valley every year in search of rains and cooler
pastures.
The grounds of the lodge or
safari-hotel consist of three natural terraces that descend from an elevated
plateau, with the lodge built on the middle terrace, adapting its architectural
design to the gentle curves of the land, creating an intimate link with the
vegetation and rocky outcrops. The entire design of this unique hotel is
inspired by integration with the natural environment, with Suites that provide
a unique and privileged African experience in a secure and luxurious
environment.
The Meliá Serengeti will provide
50 rooms: 25 „Meliá Forest‟ rooms, 23 „Meliá Hills‟ rooms and 2 „Serengeti
Suites‟, with public areas such as lounges and restaurants overlooking the
sunny terraces around the infinity pool and the pool bar, open areas for
barbecue, with stone and vegetation masterly mixed to ensure an attractive
structure at the perfect temperature.
100% environmentally-friendly
hotel
The Meliá Serengeti will be the
first Company hotel designed to operate completely „off the grid‟, with its
remote location and total absence of services in the area making it the perfect
opportunity to create a state-of-the-art sustainable hotel which will depend
solely on fossil fuels for emergency energy supply.
The rooms have been designed with
an intelligent approach to insulation and ventilation, and will provide fans
rather than air-conditioning, no television, and all of the building materials
will be evaluated based on the carbon footprint they generate, replacing tiles,
for example, with concrete with local pigments and wood.
The creation of an „off the grid‟
resort requires resources such as photovoltaic panels to generate electricity and
accumulators to store the electricity, complemented by a biogas generation
system fed by a wastewater treatment plant. Water will be collected from
rainwater and made drinkable using the most modern and environmentally-
friendly techniques and equipment.
For Gabriel Escarrer, Vice
Chairman and CEO of Meliá Hotels International, “Meliá Serengeti is an
opportunity to respond to the challenge of offering the „real‟ African
experience that all travellers desire, combined with the safety and comfort of
the most exclusive and secure environment.”
The senior executive of the
Company thanked specially the owners and promoters of this spectacular project,
Albwardy Investments Group, for renewing their confidence in Meliá Hotels
International with this project, ensuring the Company would successfully rise,
as ever, to this new challenge.
Meliá Almaty, Kazakhstan
The announcement of the first
hotel operated by Meliá Hotels International in Kazakhstan, a huge and wealthy
country located in the heart of Eurasia, is a further example of the vocation
for international growth of a Company which now operates in 42 countries.
The surrounding mountains of Tien
Shan, Altay, or Ulytau make it a paradise for winter sports, and it is also
blessed with vast natural resources, mainly oil, gas and mines. Kazakhstan also
has other attractions such as a traditional culture evolving from the eternal
relationship between the Kazakh people and nomadic tribes, and influenced by
the Russian occupation in the 18th century. The country received 5 million
visitors in 2013, and expects to receive 8 million in 2024.
Almaty was the capital of the
country until 1997, and is the largest city in Kazakhstan, a country that aims
to become one of the top 30 economies in the world by 2050. Almaty generates
around 20% of the national Gross Domestic Product and is a major financial hub
in Central Asia. Added to its industrial, commercial and business activity, and
the fact that it is home to all of the most important embassies and
headquarters of companies operating in Kazakhstan, this make it the ideal
destination for a Meliá hotel specializing in corporate travel and congresses.
Meliá Almaty will open in 2019,
located north on Abay Prospekt and west on Mirsoyan Street in one of the most
exclusive areas of the city of Almaty, and will provide 250 rooms, including 50
Suites and Junior Suites, with cutting-edge architectural design and a
structure of steel and glass. It will also provide a restaurant, bar, lounge,
spa and fitness centre, as well as meeting rooms. This full range of services
and facilities together with the high standards Meliá applies to its urban
hotels, combining the urban and leisure experience (bleisure hotels, business +
leisure), will undoubtedly make the Meliá Almaty one of the leading hotels in
the city, in competition with other major international hotel chains.
During the signature, the
Director of Expansion for Meliá, Maria Zarraluqui, thanked the hotel owners,
ASICO, for their confidence in Meliá, and explained how satisfied Meliá
Hotels International is with the addition of this hotel. “Meliá Almaty is our
long-awaited first hotel in Kazakhstan, with the right product and the right
brand for this city, and we hope the hotel will play a key role in the powerful
growth of the city,” she said.
