Better with Meliá

By Daily Pérez Guillén

The Meliá hotel chain promotes Cuba as a destination that invites guests to enjoy unique experiences, while continuing to grow without renouncing the quality in each of the facilities it manages in the Caribbean archipelago.

In the lobby of the Hotel Sol Palmeras, in Varadero, where the Spanish company started “its act of faith and permanence” in this country in May 1990, Mayté Artieda Barroso, Meliá Hotels International Cuba Marketing and Communications director, exchanged with the press.

“We always say that you can travel the island from east to west with Meliá and discover what Cuba truly is, which is not only sun and beaches but also tradition, culture with all that the heritage cities offer,” she stressed before highlighting the company’s progress in 2024.

Mayté Artieda Barroso, Meliá Hotels International Cuba Marketing and Communications director

“An important milestone has been our entry in the destination of Trinidad with the new Meliá Trinidad Peninsula, which is a unique hotel in Cuba, not only due to its facilities, decoration and location — it is located in a sort of mini Cuba, we could say, because Trinidad has sea, mountains and culture — but also because of the way the hotel has been built.”

This accommodation represents a Cuban benchmark of in terms of respect for the environment, since it produces its own electricity from 1,500 solar panels and uses another 250 to guarantee hot water. It also has a cistern to collect rainwater from the rooftops, which is used to irrigate the green areas.

Artieda Barroso also highlights the renovation of the hotel’s rooms, which has also been carried out at facilities such as the Meliá Varadero. “We are constantly updating our products to offer travelers something new every time they come,” she stressed.

At the beginning of the high season, the director specified the top markets for the chain. “Canada sets the trend at this time of year, as does Russia. Others are making their entrance, such as Germany, France, and our own online channel brings many clients. Europe is always a very important market, especially because of the seasonality and because it is different from Canada. Generally, they are looking more for circuits, touring the island and spending a few days in cities to get to know the culture a little bit and then extending the vacation experience.”

The domestic market is also important for the chain. “We can count on our own people to enjoy their vacations in our facilities and we have products focused on the domestic market.”

Meliá currently manages more than 14,900 rooms in 34 facilities across Cuba. “We have always been committed since we arrived to sustained growth with the different openings and with the entry of brands; we already have here the brands Paridisus, Meliá, Sol, Affiliated and INNSiDE, recently incorporated in Havana with the Hotel Habana Catedral.”

Hotel Sol Palmeras de Meliá in Varadero.

As a complement to accompany this growth and to ensure guests always have a variety of options, the Spanish company created its own importer, Mesol, “through which we will ensure that each of the facilities has varied products and supplies so that guests can have different experiences according to each of the brands,” she pointed out.

Meliá’s digital platforms are always active with diverse content. This year a phrase serves as a leitmotif across all of them: “It’s better this way.”

“We always say that with Meliá you will discover the soul of Cuba. That is the great proposal we have, that any place you go to visit in Cuba will always reveal a little piece of what it is, of its essence, of the people, of the history, of the culture, of the beach. In our current campaign we say that ‘It’s better this way’; that coming to Cuba with your family and enjoying this space, these facilities, what the country has to offer, is always better this way.”

Over the past three decades, the Cuban government has recognized Meliá’s contribution to the development of tourism and the training of professionals in the sector on several occasions.

“Since we arrived here with this first hotel in the 1990s, it was almost like falling in love with the country at first sight. It is not only its beaches, its culture, but also its people, which is the main difference, and that is what makes it a unique jewel in the Caribbean,” the Marketing and Communications director concluded.