Sol Meliá, Spain’s leading hotel chain and one of the world's largest, will open its first regional property in Dubai.

The Meliá Dubai, a five-star 164-bedroom ‘urban resort’ will open on October 12, to coincide with national day in Spain.

“This is our first property in the Arabian Gulf and the first step to realising our expansion plans for the region. We are currently negotiating with potential partners in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Jordan and we hope to make further announcements in the near future,” said Andre Gerondeau, EVP, Hotels Division at Sol Meliá Hotels and Resorts.

The number of visitors to Dubai from Spain has been increasing steadily, he added.

Emirates opened their first daily flight to Madrid last summer and combined with Iberia’s existing four weekly flights to Dubai, should improve on the 30,000 plus visitors Dubai received from Spain in 2010. In addition Emirates fly daily to Sao Paulo, with new routes planned to Rio de Janiero and Buenos Aires, all destinations where Meliá has strong brand awareness.

Sol Meliá has a total of eight brands each covering a range of market segments and Gran Meliá a luxury brand and ME by Meliá a lifestyle brand are the two brands they feel will appeal most to regional investors and potential guests.

The Dh200 million ($54.4 million) Meliá Dubai will feature 5 restaurants, an la carte fine dining restaurant, signature Indian restaurant Khazana by celebrity Chef Sanjeev Kapoor, ‘The Level’ a Meliá branded executive floor, a full service YHI SPA as well as a rooftop and swimming pool, which will feature a Spanish Tapas bar.-TradeArabia News Service