Meliá Hotels International

A Spanish family-controlled chain (~400 hotels) headquartered in Palma de Mallorca. Strong presence in Spain, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Brazil; modest footprint in the rest of Europe and Asia. The portfolio leans resort-heavy compared with the business-tilted European peers.

Tiers (rough hierarchy)

• Luxury: Gran Meliá, Paradisus Resorts, ME by Meliá
• Upper-upscale: Meliá, INNSiDE
• Resort all-inclusive: Paradisus, Sol by Meliá (Caribbean focus)
• Midscale: TRYP by Meliá (transferred to Wyndham in many markets

— verify by brand on the building), Affiliated by Meliá

Gran Meliá is a small luxury-grade sub-brand limited to roughly a dozen flagship properties. ME (lowercase intentional) is the design-led lifestyle line, comparable to W or Andaz in positioning.

Loyalty: MeliáRewards

Tiered Blue → Silver → Gold → Platinum. Status thresholds are stay- night based and currently lower than peer chains, which is part of the value pitch — easy mid-tier status for a frequent Spain/Caribbean traveller.

Earning is on cash spend, and points can be redeemed against cash rates in a partial-redemption model — unusually flexible compared with the all-or-nothing award nights at most chains.

Notes

• Caribbean all-inclusives via Paradisus + Sol are the catalogue's

signature. If you don't visit the Caribbean, you may not see Meliá's strengths.

• Cuba: Meliá is one of the few major international chains operating

there, due to long-running European ties. Worth knowing for award redemptions; cash bookings from US clients carry geopolitical complications.

• The naming convention is messy: "Meliá Madrid Princesa" and

"Sol Marbella Estepona" don't visually signal they're the same family. Look for the brand prefix.

• TRYP was sold to Wyndham as a franchise brand in 2010 but Meliá

retains some properties under its own management — a hotel labelled TRYP may belong to either company. Check the booking source.