Spanish hotel group Sol Melia is celebrating its 50th anniversary with the launch of its new lifestyle brand.
ME by Melia aims to personalize the experience of staying in a hotel, with guest services being built around the marketing slogans: RememberME, ExperienceME, EnergiseME and ChallengeME.
An example of this is that rather than a concierge, the brand will have an "experience manager" to tailor the guests' experience while staying and the ME brand will also be the first in the group to offer guest recognition services.
The first ME hotel opened in Madrid in October. The 192-room ME Madrid Reina Victoria offers wifi internet access, a CD/DVD home theatre system with 32-inch interactive plasma screen TV and an a in-room library of CDs and DVDs. Rooms also have an iPod adaptor and iPod with more than 900 songs to play.
Luis del Olmo, executive VP and chief marketing officer for Sol Melia says: "We want to deliver experiences. ME will be a bit like the W Hotels. A business hotel but with fun."
For repeat customers there will be a loyalty programme called MaS. This will offer guests preferential reservations, express check-in, free daily newspaper, and late check-out until 4pm. MaS Gold Card holders will be able to check-in at 10am and receive a gift in their room.
In the last three years Sol Melia has spent £300 million on repositioning its brands, in key city locations and resorts. For more information on the other hotels in the group: Melia Hotels and Resorts, Tryp Hotels, Sol Hotels, Paradise Resorts, Sol Melia Vacation Club, see solmelia.com.
For more information on the ME Madrid property visit mebymelia.com.
Report by Felicity Cousins
