Meliá Hotels International is continuing on its development path throughout the Mediterranean and aims to take advantage of growth opportunities in Albania, an almost completely unspoiled destination which is now committed to sharing its hospitality with travellers and becoming a European tourist hotspot.
After beginning its expansion plan in the country in 2017, Meliá has now announced its fourth hotel: the Sol Dürres Hotel, located in the second most important city in the country and one of its key tourism development centres. The company expects to open the hotel next year, and this will then be followed by the opening of three additional hotels: the Meliá Dürres, the Meliá Tirana and a third hotel in Dürres under the INNSiDE by Meliá brand. The company thus intends to introduce three of its brands and position itself as one of the leading international hotel operators in the country.
Dürres, on the Adriatic Sea coast, is the second largest city in Albania and has the most popular beach in the country. The city is also home to many vestiges of ancient civilisations, with remains of monuments such as the amphitheatre, public baths, the aqueduct and the Venetian-Byzantine walls.
The Sol Dürres hotel is 10 kilometres from the city centre and will be the result of a total refurbishment of the current Tropikal Resort, adding two new buildings, all surrounded by extensive gardens and swimming pools, forming a modern holiday resort in a quiet location alongside the beach. The hotel will have 383 rooms (including several premium villas), an à la carte restaurant and several other dining options, a beach club, a wellness area, a fitness centre and several meeting rooms. The pool area will have a space reserved for adults only, another for families and a special area for children, ensuring the best possible services so that every type of guest can enjoy a personalised experience.
Albania is a country of contrasts, with more than 400 kilometres of coastline, wild nature, mountain scenery and numerous historical monuments that have formed part of its considerable cultural legacy since ancient times. Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Venetians, Ottoman Turks, Serbs and Bulgarians have all influenced the architecture, cuisine and traditions of a country which began to modernise and open up to tourism in the 1990s after four decades of communist isolation. Over the last five years – prior to the pandemic – Tirana airport doubled its international passenger traffic.
Source: Melia Hotels
