PALMA DE MALLORCA, SPAIN Sol Meliá is planning to open a pair of 5-star resorts in Mexico later this year, and the company expects to accelerate its North America expansion now that its first U.S. property, Meliá Atlanta, has debuted.
Sol Meliá is developing two resorts comprising 906 guestrooms in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. One of them, Paradisus Esmeralda, is designed for families, and the other, Paradisus La Perla, will be adult-only. The resorts, which market the reintroduction of the Paradisus brand in Mexico, will be built on 290,000 sq. m of beachfront owned by Sol Meliá, along with a convention center for 2,000 people and 340 Sol Meliá Vacation Club units. The company’s total investment in the project is about US$83 million.
Meliá Atlanta kicks off a progressive expansion for the company into major U.S. cities, with future projects targeted for New York City, Miami, Orlando and Washington. The growth is intended to boost brand awareness among U.S. outbound travelers to Europe and Latin America, Sol Meliá says. An alliance formed last year with Wyndham Hotel Group to promote the growth of the Tryp brand is another part of that strategy.