Sol Meliá Manages Spain’s Hotel de la Reconquista

Spanish hotel company Sol Meliá has assumed management of the Hotel de la Reconquista in Oviedo, one of the most emblematic hotels in Spain. The hotel officially joined the Sol Meliá portfolio of hotels on May 1 under the Meliá brand.

The agreement was signed in an event presided over by the Counselor for Culture and Tourism of the Principality of Asturias, Mercedes Alvarez, and attended by the Chairwoman of Hoasa, Elisa Llaneza, and the Vice Chairman of Sol Meliá, Sebastian Escarrer.

The Spanish hotel chain now operates three hotels in the principality, with the Hotel de la Reconquista joining the Tryp Rey Pelayo in Gijon and the Tryp Oviedo, both four-star hotels.

Sol Meliá will manage the hotel for a period of 15 years, a period which may be extended by an additional maximum of five years, as specified in the terms and conditions of the bidding process defined by the hotel owners, Hotelería Asturiana S.A.

Sol Meliá currently operates more than 300 hotels in 28 countries on four continents, with more than 76,500 rooms and more than 35,000 employees. The Meliá Hotel de la Reconquista also joins the Meliá brand network along with 90 other hotels worldwide with 25,000 rooms of which 53 percent are in city destinations and 47 percent in resorts. In 2008, the more than 14,000 Meliá employees had the pleasure of providing service to over 9 million hotel stays all over the world.

Among the new features Meliá will bring to the Hotel de la Reconquista are the modernization of the hotel bar and restaurant concepts, the creation of new room types including the exclusive The Level service, the intensification of the guest experience through new sensorial effects, and the updating of staff uniforms.

There will also be a focus on the redesign of wellness services, strengthening of the presence of the hotel in the events, conventions and banquets market segments, promotion of the hotel as an ideal destination for weddings and honeymoons, as well as the creation of a “hotel museum” in which art is added to the guest experience opportunities during their stay.

In the proposal made by Sol Meliá, the hotel company hopes to incorporate practices to protect the natural environment, to further integrate the hotel in the social and cultural life of Asturias and the capacity of the hotel to evolve towards a higher category brand in the medium term.