Spain’s Melia Looks for Partners to Grow Premium Resort Portfolio
Photo Caption: Located in Spain’s Balearic Islands in Menorca, Villa Le Blanc by Gran Meliá opened in July 2022. Source: Meliá Hotels International.
Skift Take
We bet that Hyatt or one of its rivals will partner with Meliá by 2025, adding a bigger loyalty program and scale efficiencies. But the Spanish leader in resort locations worldwide should reject any offer that would dilute its strategy. Call it turn-down service.
Meliá Hotels International is Spain's largest hotel and resort operator, aiming to grow its portfolio across the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, and Asia Pacific by 40 percent in the next three years. The Mallorca-based company, controlled by the Escarrer family, is open to selling a stake to a world player like Hyatt or Marriott. But its strategy in recent years could set it up to go it alone for much longer.
Meliá, with about 340 hotels in operation, has 62 properties with 15,000 rooms in its pipeline — nearly all in the luxury, lifestyle, and so-called upper-upperscale segments. In December, it launched its latest brand, Zel, in collaboration with tennis superstar Rafael Nadal.
While a publicly listed company, Meliá has 56 percent of its capital base owned by the Escarrer family — divided between investment vehicles they control and roughly 5 percent held by Gabriel Escarrer Juliá, the billionaire non-executive chairman of the group who founded the comp
