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News from the Caribbean as of
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World's largest resort operator opens another Cuban hotel
Friday, December 15, 2006
by Thomas Mulier
MADRID, Spain (Bloomberg): Sol Melia SA, the world's largest resort operator, has opened a 434-room hotel in Cuba, strengthening its position in the island nation.
The addition of the Paradisus Princesa del Mar in Varadero brings to 24 the number of hotels operated by Sol Melia in Cuba, the Palma de Majorca, Spain-based hotelier said in an e-mailed statement on Thursday. Sol Melia runs a quarter of Cuba's hotel rooms.
The hotel has six bars, restaurants serving Japanese, Italian and French cuisine, and an outdoor jacuzzi, the company said.
Last year, Cuba attracted 2 million visitors who spent about $2 billion, even though US authorities stepped up efforts to prevent Americans from visiting the island.
The US Congress will pass legislation next year to ease restrictions on family travel and financial transfers to Cuba, Representative William Delahunt, co-chair of a congressional group seeking to loosen the US embargo, said on Tuesday.
Sol Melia this month opened the five-star 925-room Melia Las Dunas hotel in Cuba, one of its largest properties worldwide.
Among Sol Melia's Cuban hotels is the famed Tryp Habana Libre, which was the tallest building in Latin America when it opened as the Hotel Habana Hilton in March 1958, months before the Cuban revolution. Fidel Castro slept there along with many of his senior officers upon entering Havana on January 8, 1959.
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