Sol Melià inaugurates new hotel in London

Leading Majorcan hotel chain Sol Melia yesterday inaugurated its new city centre hotel in London. The Meliá White House was purchased by the international hotel chain in 1999 for 80 million euros and since then, 30 million euros has been spent on refurbishing the property. Last night Sol Meliá vice chairman Sebastián Escarrer, presided over a gala dinner at the hotel which was built in 1936 and was the headquarters for the Fabien Society, whose members included Bernard Shaw and Virginia Wolf, among others. The White House, which has 582 bedrooms and 115 apartments, is set right in the heart of the capital near Oxford Street and Piccadilly Circus. The British market is one of the most important for Sol Meliá, 18 per cent of its clients world wide are from the United Kingdom and the hotel chain also wants to transform its new luxury hotel in London into the Gran Hotel Español de Londres where its clients can sample and enjoy quality Spanish products and gastronomy. Sol Meliá has 350 hotels in 30 different countries.