Luxury Spanish hotel brand Gran Melia Hotels and Resorts has opened its first African property in Arusha, Tanzania.
The Gran Melia Arusha opened on September 1 and has 171 rooms and suites with private balconies overlooking the hotel garden and Mount Meru.
Gran Melia is part of Melia Hotels International, which already operates the Melia Zanzibar and Melia Serengeti in Tanzania, as well as the Gran Melia Iguazu in Argentina, Melia London Kensington in the UK, and Melia Desert Palm in Dubai.
The new Arusha property is a 45-minute drive from Kilimanjaro International Airport and a 20-minute drive from Arusha Airport.
It features a 600-capacity conference centre and meeting facilities as well as a spa, gym, hair salon, boutique and heated outdoor pool.
Indian restaurant Yellow Chilli, all-day restaurant Saba Saba, a coffee shop and rooftop bar.
The hotel will target leisure as well as business travellers, and will arrange excursions to landmarks including Tarangire National Park and Mount Kilimanjaro.
Guests will have the option of paying extra to access ‘Redlevel service’, which gets them a private check-in, lounge access and butler service.
Melia also operates hotel brand Innside, which is in the midst of a European expansion.
