Source: Melia

Meliá Hotels International (MHI), one of the world's leading leisure hotel companies operating more than 380 hotels throughout 40 countries, and its joint venture partner Falcon's Beyond, a global entertainment development company, announced today a new, leisure and entertainment-based resort brand, Falcon's Resorts by Meliá. The all-inclusive resorts will be featured within world-class entertainment destinations, to be branded Falcon's Beyond Destinations, being jointly developed by the two companies in prime leisure markets across the globe. 

Leveraging MHI's 66 years of expertise in travel and hospitality and Falcon's extensive experience as a fully integrated entertainment development company, Falcon's Resorts by Meliá will offer a unique resortainment hospitality experiencethat will seamlessly blend premium resort amenities with extraordinary entertainment experiences in a way that's casual sophisticated fun for everyone.The resorts will provide direct access to vibrant and curated dining, shopping, and entertainment venues as part of a larger destination experience.

“We've built over a decade-long business relationship with Meliá, beginning with our successful entertainment hospitality property in Mallorca, Spain. We are excited now to be bringing a further enhanced version of that model to Punta Cana by year-end," said Cecil D. Magpuri, CEO of Falcon's Beyond. “With Falcon's 22-year history creating story-driven entertainment and hospitality experiences for some of the world's largest brands, we are leveraging all of our unique expertise and capabilities for Falcon's Resorts by Melia to deliver an unprecedented vacation experience that goes beyond expectations."

“Our partnership with Falcon's is a tremendous opportunity to offer a distinctly different vacation experience from our competitors by incorporating immersive and interactive entertainment elements and technologies in the resort experience in ways it has never been done before," said Vice Chairman and CEO of Meliá, Gabriel Escarrer. “We are thrilled to debut our first Falcon's Resort by Meliá in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, an exceptional location where we've been operating for over 30 years and have a robust network of resorts and loyal guest base."

The first of these new resorts, Falcon's Resort by Meliá | All Suites Punta Cana, will be a multi-phase transformation of two existing MHI properties in the Dominican Republic, Paradisus Grand Cana and The Reserve at Paradisus Palma Real, comprising a total of 622 rooms.

Phase one, expected to open in December 2022 and accept reservations in October 2022, will be an all-inclusive resort with multiple high-end bars and restaurants, pools, swim-up suites, a water park, and a kids' camp. Through the re-brand, the Paradisus Grand Cana resort will receive enhancements to the facilities, amenities, and experiences across the property, and will integrate a unique interactive platform that is expected to be announced soon. Phase two, completion of the re-brand of The Reserve at Paradisus Palma Real, is expected in 2023.

Falcon's Resort by Meliá | All Suites Punta Cana will be one of three components of a new multi-faceted $350 million entertainment destination, Falcon's Beyond Destination | Punta Cana, the first Falcon's Beyond Destination to debut. The overall destination will also feature Katmandu Park | Punta Cana, a cutting-edge new theme park expected to also open December 2022, and Falcon's Central | Punta Cana, a signature retail, dining, and entertainment district currently in development.

As the first world-class theme park in the Caribbean, Katmandu Park will feature several patented, never-before-seen ride technologies, interactive storytelling, and captivating mega-park-level attractions. Falcon's Central will connect guests with world-renowned brands through curated location-based entertainment venues, experiences, amenities, content, restaurants, shopping, and retailtainment. Both Katmandu Park and Falcon's Central will be directly accessible to guests of Meliá's vast network of area resorts and hotels, comprising 1825 rooms, as well as to guests of neighboring hotels – an additional 6,000 rooms – and to nearly 30,000 local residents within a 30 minute drive.

MHI and Falcon's have announced multiple Falcon's Beyond Destination locations across the globe in the upcoming years, including sites in Tenerife, Canary Islands scheduled to open 2024, and Playa Del Carmen, Mexico scheduled to open 2025.

The unveiling of Falcon's Resorts by Meliá follows other recent transformative news from Falcon's Beyond. On July 12, Falcon's Beyond announced plans to become a publicly listed company on Nasdaq through a definitive merger agreement with FAST Acquisition Corp. II (NYSE: FZT), a special purpose acquisition company founded by Doug Jacob and headed by Sandy Beall. Upon the closing of the transaction, the new combined company will be named “Falcon's Beyond Global" and is expected to be listed on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “FBYD." More information about the transaction can be found in the Investor Relations section of Falcon's website.​

About Melia Hotels International

Founded in 1956 in Palma de Mallorca (Spain), Meliá Hotels International has more than 400 hotels open or in the process of opening in more than 40 countries, and a portfolio of nine brands: Gran Meliá Hotels & Resorts, ME by Meliá, The Meliá Collection, Paradisus by Meliá, Meliá Hotels & Resorts, ZEL, INNSiDE by Meliá, Sol by Meliá and Affiliated by Meliá. The Company is one of the world's leading hotel chains in the leisure segment and its experience in this area has allowed it to consolidate itself in the growing market of urban hotels inspired by leisure. Its commitment to responsible tourism has led it to be recognised as the most sustainable European hotel company according to S&P Global's Sustainability Yearbook 2024, as well as being a "Top Employer 2024" brand in Spain, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Italy, Germany, France and Vietnam. Meliá Hotels International is also part of the IBEX 35. For more information, please visit www.meliahotelsinternational.com