Coinciding with the Madrid International Tourism Trade Fair -FITUR’98 - about to begin in Madrid, the Spanish hotel management company Sol Meliá has announced the incorporation of 3 new city hotels in Portugal: the Meliá Confort Oriente in Lisbon, the Meliá Confort Grao Vasco in Viseu and the Sol Inn Expo Porto in Oporto, taking the total number of Sol Meliá hotels in Portugal to thirteen, eight of which are already operating with a total of 1,175 rooms.

The incorporation of the Meliá Confort Oriente and the Sol Inn Expo Porto, both slated for opening in December 1998, is the fruit of a franchise agreement signed with the Portuguese hotel chain Hotti Hoteis, joint venture partners of Sol Meliá for over two years in the pursuit of hotel management and franchise opportunities in Angola, the Azores, Cabo Verde, Santo Tomé y Pr’ncipe, Madeira, Mozambique and Portugal.

The Meliá Confort Oriente is an aparthotel offering 90 apartments and 25 suites and located on the site of the Expo’98 World Fair, very near the Portelo international airport. The Sol Inn Expo Porto is located in the area of Exponor de Matosinhos in Oporto and will provide 114 double rooms and 5 suites.

Sol Meliá will begin to operate the Meliá Confort Grao Vasco on 1st. February 1998 after the signature of a management agreement with the company Grao Vasco S.A. This four star hotel will provide 111 spacious, comfortable rooms, all with air-conditioning, satellite TV and direct dial telephone, amongst other facilities. The hotel also offers an “à la carte” restaurant, lounge bar, reading room and swimming pool.

The three hotels will increase the facilities Sol Meliá is able to offer male and female business travellers in Portugal, providing them with modern, fully equipped meeting rooms and secretarial services, amongst other services and facilities designed to cater to the needs of business travellers.

Sol Meliá is the undisputed leader in both the business and leisure hotel markets in Spain, with more than 10,500 and 20,000 rooms respectively. The Company operates a total of 227 hotels in 25 countries throughout the world.

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