Meliá Hotels International has signed an agreement to operate the Desert Palm Dubai Hotel under its Meliá brand, reflagging the property which was under the Per Aquum brand by Minor Hotels.
This agreement is the fourth with the hotel’s owner, through which Meliá already operates three hotels: Meliá Zanzibar and Meliá Serengeti Lodge (both in Tanzania), and Meliá Iguazu (Argentina).
Revealing this to Hotelier Middle East, Meliá Hotels International global development managing director María Zarraluqui said: "We just signed a deal for the reflagging of Desert Palm Hotel." The official take-over will occur on July 1, 2018. She added: "We certainly think that we can bring extra value to the service component. The property is amazing and it's very special. The first approach will be to leverage the service, and then we can see whether we should leverage the product as well."
| Advertisement |
The hotel spans 160-acres and provides 39 rooms, suites and villas, along with a range of dining and wellness facilities as well as a variety of equestrian activities.
The resort offers all-day dining at Epicure, a classic brasserie complemented by pool service. The Rare restaurant features a wood-fired grill for meat and seafood dishes, tapas and cocktails, while other spaces such as Red bar and The Polo Bar, or the Al Fresco Terrace, are also on offer.
The Desert Palm Polo Club has four polo fields, and the addition of this new hotel allows Meliá to extend its presence in Dubai, where it will soon be opening Me by Meliá and Innside by Meliá hotels, and throughout the Middle East region.
Meliá Hotels International executive vice president and CEO Gabriel Escarrer said in a statement: "Taking over operations at this exclusive Dubai resort makes us very proud and also gives us a chance to demonstrate our proven excellence in the management of luxury urban resorts in a market to which the company is already firmly committed."