Meliá Hotels International signs a strategic agreement to build and operate five Innside by Meliá hotels in Chile, the first of them to open in 2014

• The company has signed a strategic agreement with a Private Investment Fund lead by Grupo Armas to promote development in this high-growth market
• The Innside hotels respond to increasing demand from discerning and sophisticated city travellers prompted by the country's economic growth

Meliá Hotels International has taken an important step in its growth in Latin America with the announcement of an agreement to open 5 Innside by Meliá hotels in Chile together with the a Private Investment Fund lead by Grupo Armas, the first for the Innside by Meliá brand in the Americas after its rapid international growth over the past year. The intense growth of the company continues with the addition of a new hotel around every three weeks, and 14 new hotels signed up in Europe, the Middle East and Latin America already In 2013.

The agreement involves the construction of 5 hotels by Grupo Armas which will be managed by Meliá Hotels International, and is very much in line with the strategies of both companies. For Meliá,, it is an excellent introduction to a high-potential market in a region in which the Company has high brand recognition and a leadership profile which allows low capital intensive growth through hotel management agreements. In particular, the Hotel Group notes that this growth comes from the hand of a solvent group of acknowledged prestige as Grupo Armas.

For Grupo Armas, its properties will enjoy the benefits of the strength of the successful international Innside brand along with the management guarantee provided by almost 60 years of experience and the proven track record of Meliá Hotels International.

As part of the agreement, the companies also signed the management contract for the first of the five hotels to be developed in Santiago de Chile along the coming 5 years: the Innside Santiago, a modern and avant-garde hotel located in Bucarest Street in the heart of the Providencia district, the city's financial and commercial heart, which will open in 2014.

The hotel will offer120 rooms, restaurant, bar and gym, plus 250m2 of meeting and event rooms. Meliá Hotels International will play an active role in the final design through a technical assistance agreement with the owner, ensuring compliance with the standards demanded by the "business lifestyle" Innside brand aimed at travellers attracted by practical design, intelligent smart and efficient service and functionality, combined with leisure options and contact with the city.

Both Meliá Hotels International and Grupo Armas will be also actively looking for opportunities to develop the brand in countries where Grupo Armas is already active, such as Peru and Colombia.

The Innside brand has fifteen hotels open or scheduled in Germany, three in Madrid, one in Manchester, another in Copenhagen, and one in Indonesia, and Santiago de Chile will become its first hotel on the American continent. For this reason, and given the importance of the strategic agreement, Gabriel Escarrer, Vice Chairman and CEO of Meliá Hotels International, stated after signing that "our company is very excited about the prospect of operating in Chile, in particular with Innside by Meliá, a brand that is proving to be a revelation in the city hotel industry, and also about the prospect of working with a such a solvent and powerful company as Grupo Armas, a perfect partner for us and one which offers the best guarantees for development of an ambitious project which will undoubtedly change the face of the urban hotel industry in Chile."

For Cristian Armas, Chief Executive Officer of Grupo Armas, "we believe in the potential of the urban hospitality industry in a country like Chile, and we are thrilled to involve ourselves in it with a partner like Meliá Hotels International, a leader not only in Latin America, but in a country as influential as Spain, in Europe, and currently present in 39 countries. We think that the Innside hotels, now rapidly expanding worldwide, will perfectly fit today's Chilean business traveller needs and will exceed their expectations".