Melia Hotels International : Meliá puts the finishing touch to its transformation of Magaluf with the Calvia Beach The Plaza Hotel and Momentum Plaza

In 2012, Meliá's Executive Vice President and CEO, Gabriel Escarrer Jaume, announced that the company, and its partners were beginning a major project to transform and reposition Magaluf, a destination in which Meliá is market leader with more than 3,700 rooms.

As a destination that had once been a benchmark for European tourism in the Mediterranean, Magaluf had become obsolete and in need of a comprehensive repositioning. The Meliá plan included objectives such as extending the travel season, increasing the number of families and adult travellers, diversifying into segments such as MICE and sports groups, improving safety and the image of Magaluf in general, and providing the destination with superior quality leisure, shopping and dining facilities in line with the expectations of discerning modern travellers.

Calviá Beach The Plaza, an iconic hotel for Magaluf

To achieve these objectives, Meliá has renovated and repositioned 11 hotels, introducing new brands and new hotel concepts, attracting new types of customers (with more adults and families) and improving profitability, image, and sustainability in the destination. To finalise this intense conversion, Meliá has just opened the new Calviá Beach The Plaza, a hotel with XX rooms and two huge suspended glass swimming pools and state-of-the-art design and facilities, and a declaration of intent of what the company expects for Magaluf.

A new 'plaza' for shopping, leisure and quality dining

The Momentum Plaza shopping and dining area also responds to these needs, opening its doors to complement one of the most modern hotels in Spain with a choice of dining and shopping facilities. Momentum Plaza has involved a total investment of almost 15 million euros and, just like the Calviá Beach The Plaza Hotel, will remain open throughout the year to help reduce seasonality. Meliá considers this investment the 'icing on the cake' for a project in which it has invested over 200 million euros over the last 7 years with its partners.

The new facilities have been designed for both travellers and residents. Up to now, Magaluf has had very few quality stores, especially in the low and shoulder seasons. Meliá will keep the Calviá Beach The Plaza Hotel and Momentum Plaza shopping centre open all year to allow permanent access to quality complementary facilities that the renovated 4 and 5-star Magaluf hotels have been demanding.

The commercial facilities at Calviá Beach The Plaza now house 17 top-quality brands that will gradually begin to open their doors over the next few days, including international brands such as Mango, Springfield and Women'Secret, and first-class Majorcan brands such as HEYMO (footwear) and MIAN Factory (jewellers). Modern dining facilities to be enjoyed with friends or family include Starbucks, Urban Food, The Good Burger and UDON, among others. All the brands have welcomed the project with open arms and, just as Meliá has done in the past, made a firm commitment involving investments averaging between 200,000 and 300,000 euros.

As Mark Hoddinott, Vice President of Real Estate at Meliá and one of the project leaders, explains: 'Momentum Plaza provides Magaluf with superior quality facilities for leisure, dining and shopping in response to the demands of a new type of more experienced and discerning guest visiting the destination, as well as helping attract residents from all over Mallorca. To achieve this, we have managed to involve top-level brands with international prestige and built a 200-vehicle car park to make it easier to visit.'