Meliá created ME by Meliá in 2006 as the most avant-garde brand in its portfolio. The first ME opened in October that year in Madrid's historic Reina Victoria building, followed in December by the first resort expression in Cancún. The original concept already combined architecture, art, music, highly individualised service and an Experience Manager responsible for the energy of the public spaces — a clear attempt to move the Spanish hotel group into the emerging luxury-lifestyle category.
The Brand
ME by Meliá is now one of four brands in Meliá Hotels International's Luxury segment, alongside Gran Meliá, Paradisus by Meliá and The Meliá Collection. Its current corporate formulation is 'Contemporary Culture, by Design': creativity and sophistication are used to connect guests with fashion, art, music, gastronomy and the cultural life of each destination. The brand spans city and resort hospitality rather than one physical hotel type. London, Barcelona, Madrid, Milan, Dubai, Malta, Lisbon and Málaga express an urban cultural proposition, while Ibiza, Cabo and other leisure markets use the same brand language around beach, music and social life. Meliá continues to identify ME as a major luxury growth brand, with 2025–2026 expansion centred on Lisbon, Málaga, Malta and other Mediterranean and Mexican destinations.
Philosophy
ME was created around individualisation rather than traditional grand-hotel ceremony. Meliá's 2006 annual report described 'Everything is Possible' as a service programme intended to anticipate guest needs, supported by a guest-recognition system and an Experience Manager who orchestrated the energy of public spaces. The modern brand has shifted the language from sensory lifestyle to contemporary culture, but the underlying idea remains recognisable: the hotel should behave as a social and cultural platform, not simply a luxury bedroom product. Design, music, food, events and people are expected to create a changing atmosphere around the guest.
What Distinguishes it
Contemporary culture ME explicitly makes culture part of the hotel product. Fashion, art, music and gastronomy are not decorative partnerships at the edge of the brand; they are central to its current positioning. Public-space energy From the original Experience Manager to today's event-led hotels, ME treats the social temperature of public spaces as something that can be programmed and managed. Design authorship The brand repeatedly uses recognised architects and designers. ME Dubai by Zaha Hadid Architects and ME Malta, Meliá's second collaboration with Zaha Hadid, demonstrate a willingness to make architecture a primary brand asset. Urban and resort Unlike lifestyle brands confined to nightlife cities or beach clubs, ME moves between major urban centres and leisure destinations while keeping a recognisable cultural-social vocabulary. Meliá luxury infrastructure ME benefits from Meliá's global distribution, luxury sales strategy and MeliáRewards while retaining a more provocative personality than the group's other luxury brands.
Who it is Not For
ME by Meliá is not for travellers who want luxury to be quiet, anonymous or culturally neutral. Music, social spaces, design statements and event programming are intentional. Guests seeking the restrained privacy of Aman, a classical grand hotel, or a small owner-operated house may find ME too visible and too dependent on the energy of its destination.
Signature Houses
ME Madrid Reina Victoria · Madrid
The first ME by Meliá. The 192-room hotel established the brand inside a historic city building while using contemporary furniture, art and music to create the original ME atmosphere.
ME London · London
A major international flagship designed by Foster + Partners, important in proving that ME could become a credible urban luxury brand outside Spain.
ME Ibiza · Ibiza
A defining resort expression where music, beach culture, social programming and Mediterranean leisure naturally fit the brand's cultural proposition.
ME Dubai · Dubai
Designed by Zaha Hadid Architects inside The Opus, ME Dubai made architecture itself the destination and became one of the brand's clearest visual signatures.
ME Barcelona · Barcelona
A contemporary city flagship connecting ME with Barcelona's design, food and cultural life and reinforcing Spain as the brand's creative home market.
ME Malta · St. Julian's
A 175-room opening recorded in Meliá's 2024 results and the group's second collaboration with Zaha Hadid, extending ME's architectural strategy into a fast-growing Mediterranean market.
Competitive Landscape
LHL-229 · W Hotels The most obvious global comparison. W has greater scale and a more codified music / nightlife heritage; ME is smaller, more Euro · W Hotels The most obvious global comparison. W has greater scale and a more codified music / nightlife heritage; ME is smaller, more European-Mediterranean in origin and increasingly frames itself through contemporary culture rather than party identity alone. LHL-225 · EDITION EDITION is more restrained and residential, with Ian Schrager's luxury-lifestyle authorship and Marriott scale. ME is louder · EDITION EDITION is more restrained and residential, with Ian Schrager's luxury-lifestyle authorship and Marriott scale. ME is louder, more visibly cultural and more willing to make events and architecture part of the foreground. LHL-293 · SALT SALT is intimate, locally immersive and community-led. ME is more metropolitan, design-driven and social, with fashion, music and cu · SALT SALT is intimate, locally immersive and community-led. ME is more metropolitan, design-driven and social, with fashion, music and cultural programming as stronger recurring codes. LHL-276 · internal Meliá luxury context Within Meliá, Gran Meliá is classical Spanish-inflected luxury, Paradisus is destination-inclusive resort l · internal Meliá luxury context Within Meliá, Gran Meliá is classical Spanish-inflected luxury, Paradisus is destination-inclusive resort luxury and The Meliá Collection protects individual hotel stories. ME is the group's contemporary-culture and design proposition. Mondrian Mondrian similarly uses art, design, restaurants and nightlife to create lifestyle hotels. ME differentiates through Meliá's Mediterranean roots and its explicit current positioning around contemporary culture. KEY PEOPLE founded — Meliá Hotels International — 2006– — plain leads since — Gabriel Escarrer Jaume, Chairman & CEO, Meliá Hotels International — current — plain, monitoring layer designed (architecture) — Zaha Hadid Architects (ME Dubai; ME Malta collaboration) — plain designed (architecture) — Foster + Partners (ME London) — plain designed (interiors) — Keith Hobbs / United Designers (ME Madrid Reina Victoria launch) — 2006 — plain
Booking With LVXVRY
Selected ME by Meliá hotels may participate in Meliá Bravos, Meliá's luxury preferred-partner programme. LVXVRY verifies the individual property's participation, eligible rate and current amenities before confirmation. Where applicable, benefits can include breakfast, hotel credit, upgrade priority and arrival / departure consideration; no benefit is assumed across the entire brand. ME by Meliá participates in MeliáRewards. For an eligible preferred booking, LVXVRY verifies that the selected rate preserves MeliáRewards earning and applicable status recognition rather than assuming loyalty eligibility from the brand name alone.
Editorial Note
Founded and first-house chronology: Meliá 2006 Annual Report — ME Madrid Reina Victoria opened October 2006; ME Cancún followed in December 2006. Luxury positioning and current proposition: Meliá luxury-brand materials and 2025 investor presentation. ME Malta: Meliá 2024 annual results, 175 rooms. The official sources reviewed do not publish a sufficiently current standalone operating hotel / country count for ME by Meliá, so LHL leaves that figure unforced rather than reconstructing a potentially stale total from search results. Reviewed August 2026.