Meliá Hotels International has signed a strategic agreement to build and operate 5 INNSIDE by Meliá hotels in Chile with a private investment fund lead by Grupo Armas and has also announced the launch of another one of their brands, Gran Meliá in the centre of Riyadh as part of their aggressive group expansion plans.

The agreement will see the first INNSIDE by Meliá launch in the Americas, following the rapid international growth of the brand over the past year. As part of the agreement, the company also signed the management contract for the first of the five hotels to be developed in Santiago de Chile in the next 5 years. The INNSIDE Santiago, a modern and avant-garde hotel located in Bucarest Street in the heart of the Providencia district, the city’s financial and commercial heart, will open in 2014. The hotel will offer 120 rooms, restaurant, bar and gym, plus 250m2 of meeting and event rooms.

After signing the agreement, Gabriel Escarrer, Vice Chairman and CEO of Meliá Hotels International, commented that, “our company is very excited about the prospect of operating in Chile, in particular with INNSIDE by Meliá, a brand that is proving to be a revelation in the city hotel industry, and also about the prospect of working with a such a solvent and powerful company as Grupo Armas, a perfect partner for us and one which offers the best guarantees for development of an ambitious project which will undoubtedly change the face of the urban hotel industry in Chile”.

The second brand expansion for the group, Gran Meliá, is set to launch in Riyadh and will be housed in an ultra-modern glass building in a privileged urban location in “Cairo Square” in the heart of the Saudi capital. The hotel will initially provide 252 rooms, several restaurants, a Spa and Wellness Centre, and a convention centre (2,500 m2).

The luxury Gran Meliá brand is already home to important city hotels such as the Gran Meliá Rome Villa Agrippina and the Gran Meliá Fénix in Madrid, and luxury resorts including the Gran Meliá Palacio de Isora in Tenerife or the Gran Meliá Puerto Rico, amongst others.

Gabriel Escarrer, said “Saudi Arabia is a fantastic location for the luxury hotel industry, and our Gran Meliá brand will exceed the expectations of discerning, contemporary Arab business and leisure travellers thanks to its powerful service culture based around the “Red Glove Service”- a fusion of the “red carpet” and the “white glove”. After the success of a project such as the Gran Meliá Rome, the Gran Meliá Riyadh is another sign of our firm commitment to consolidate the Gran Meliá brand internationally and to further enhance our presence in a market in which we began in 2011 with the opening of the Meliá Dubai, and we would like to thank the hotel owners very much for their confidence in us.”

Meliá Hotels International has committed to a growth rate 0f approximately one hotel every 3 weeks, both in consolidated markets and particularly in emerging markets.  In 2013 the company has opened new markets in Latin America, Europe and the Middle East, with hotels, the Gran Meliá Riyadh in Saudi Arabia to open in 24 months time.