Le Méridien
Le Meridien is an international hotel chain of four- and five-star category and brand of Marriott International .
history
It was founded in 1972 as a subsidiary of the French airline Air France , originally to accommodate its own crews and to be able to offer European passengers to the destinations European hotel standards.
The first hotel was a 1000-room hotel in Paris, the Le Méridien Etoile . Within two years the group had built ten hotels in Europe and two in Africa. Four years later there were 21 hotels in Europe , Africa , the French West Indies, Canada , South America , the Middle East and Mauritius . In 1991 there were 58 hotels and resorts worldwide.
In 1994 Le Méridien was taken over by the British hotel company Forte Hotel Group , which in turn was taken over in 1996 by the Granada Group plc . In 2000 the chain was sold to the Compass Group . In 2001 Nomura International plc bought Le Meridien for £ 1.9 billion and merged the chain with the Principal Hotels . In December 2003, Lehman Brothers Holdings acquired the entire chain. From 2000 to 2005, the chain cooperated with the 46 hotels of the Nikko Hotels chain of the Japanese airline Japan Airlines to improve marketing on the Asia-Pacific and North American markets .
Since November 24, 2005, the chain has been officially run as a brand of the Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide hotel group , following its takeover by Marriott International .
Companies
Since the takeover in 2005 by Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Robert E. Riley is no longer the CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of Le Méridien. The manager structure under his control ( Regional Managing Directors ( MD ) for the five areas Africa & Indian Ocean , America & Caribbean , Asia & Pacific , Europe and Middle East & West Asia ) was thus dissolved. In place of Riley, the Senior Vice President (SVP) Le Méridien Operations , Michael Wale.
Brands
Le Méridien is divided into three brands:
- Le Méridien for hotels in the upscale four- and five-star category
- Le Royal Méridien for hotels in the upscale five-star category
- Art & Tech for houses with particularly modern and at the same time artistic furnishings
Locations
As of November 2013, 120 hotel locations were spread across Asia, the Pacific region, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and former French and British colonies. The last hotel in Australia was closed in Melbourne in 2005. In Europe, the chain has opened hotels in Munich, Hamburg, Stuttgart and Vienna in recent years.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ starwoodhotels.com - Le Méridien Destinations: All hotels accessed on November 15, 2013