Melia Hotels provides property and program updates

New properties and agent programs are among the developments Melia Hotels International presented to travel media this week, during a lunch event at Yorkville’s Sassafraz restaurant. Representatives from several of the company’s seven brands were in attendance for the presentation, which provided updates on the coming year for the Spain-based hotel chain. Leandro Cruz, Melia’s Director of Leisure Sales for North America, highlighted the company’s new Melia Pro travel agent portal, featuring a simple-to-use booking engine with the company’s best rates and offering up to 16 per cent commission on all bookings. A new loyalty program, Melia Pro Rewards (which replaces the Mas Amigos program – points earned through Mas Amigos are automatically transferred to Melia Pro), offers exclusive rates and benefits for agents including exclusive room rates for personal travel, with a 25 per cent discount on any available rate. An e-learning tool will also be launched later this year through Melia Pro, educating agents on the seven Melia brands. Cruz also detailed a number of upcoming hotel openings and related developments across Melia’s different brands in the coming years. Following the devastation caused by Hurricane Odile in Los Cabos earlier this summer, Cruz said that the ME Cabo hotel will re-open to travellers on March 1. Also taking place later this summer is the opening of the Melia Jamaica Braco Village, slated for a July opening and located only 40 minutes from Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay. Further in the future, Cruz said that the Paradisus Costa Rica Papagayo Bay is scheduled to open to tourists in 2016, while the Melia Nassau Beach will be rechristened Melia Baha Mar that year. Part of the massive Baha Mar development – the largest such project in the Bahamas to date, featuring five hotel brands and the biggest casino in the Caribbean  – Melia will be the lone all-inclusive option in the development, Cruz said. Renovations to the existing building are expected to wrap on Dec. 1, he added. Quick facts

• All hotels under Melia’s Paradisus brand feature the Passion by Martin Berasategui dining concept, featuring the Michelin chef’s signature dishes.
• Dogs 20 pounds and under are welcome at ME Resorts, where guests’ four-legged friends are treated to a welcome basket with items such as shampoo and a bed, as well as meals from a special pet menu prepared by ME’s executive chef. PHOTO: Latoya Moxey, Melia Nassau; Daniel Lozano, Paradisus Playa del Carmen; Alexandra Michel, Sales Manager MHI, Ontario, Québec and Eastern Canada; Leandro Cruz, Director Sales, North America, MHI; Leaticia Del Rosario, Paradisus Punta Cana and Paradisus Palma Real; Jairo Torres, ME Cabo; Irma del Angel, ME Cancun; Florian Connert, Melia Caribe Tropical, Punta Cana.