with hotel meli . a major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject . it may require cleanup to comply with wikipedia s content policies particularly neutral point of view . please discuss further on the talk page . january 2015 learn how and when to remove this template message meli hotels international s.a. type sociedad an nima traded as bmad mel industry travel tourism founded 1956 founder gabriel escarrer juli headquarters palma de mallorca spain key people gabriel escarrer juli chairman gabriel juan escarrer jaume ceo products hotels and resorts revenue 1.251 billion 2010 1 operating income 141.8 million 2010 1 profit 50.1 million 2010 1 total assets 3.390 billion end 2010 1 total equity 1.116 billion end 2010 1 number of employees 40000 average 2010 1 website melia.com the melia madrid princesa hotel . hotel gran meli salinas in lanzarote . hotel tryp gran sol in alicante . meli hotels international s.a. formerly sol meli is a spanish hotel chain which was founded by gabriel escarrer juli in 1956 in palma de mallorca . it is also known as and referred to by its former name of sol meli . the company is one of spain s largest domestic operators of holiday resorts 2 and the 17th biggest hotel chain worldwide . 3 domestically in spain the company is the market leader in both resort and urban hotels . 4 currently the hotel chain operates 374 hotels in 40 countries on 4 continents under the brands meli gran meli me by meli paradisus innside by meli tryp by wyndham sol hotels and club meli . 5 contents 1 history 2 operations 3 trademark dispute 4 criticisms 5 references 6 external links history edit the origins of the company reach back to 1956 when the then 21 year old gabriel escarrer juli leased the altair hotel in palma majorca . 6 over the subsequent years escarrer took advantage of the island s increasing popularity as a tourist destination for package holidaymakers adding further properties to the portfolio of his company hoteles mallorquines . 6 the company expanded geographically in the 1960s and 70s acquiring hotels in the canaries as well as the other balearic islands . after the decline of general franco s dictatorship tourism in spain developed more rapidly and hoteles mallorquines aggressively moved onto the spanish mainland establishing a presence in much of the country by the early 1980s . 6 in 1984 the company renamed itself hoteles sol english sun hotels before establishing itself as the largest hotel chain in the country with the acquisition of the 32 location strong hotasa group . 6 not in citation given another merger followed three years later as the company combined with the upmarket meli chain founded by josep meli i sinisterra to form sol meli . 6 the deal increased the geographical scope of the company into the caribbean americas and other parts of europe . a 1996 split of the company into two separate businesses one for hotel ownership inmotel and another for management sol meli which listed on the bolsa de madrid was reversed three years later amid major consolidation in the industry . 6 gabriel escarrer sr. subsequently stepped down from the chief executive role replaced by his sons gabriel jr. and sebastian who became deputy ceo . 7 the following year brief takeover talks were held with hilton international 6 but sol meli instead chose to make an acquisition of its own paying 360 million for smaller peer tryp hotels . 8 tryp had come close to being purchased by rival chain nh hoteles a year earlier . 9 tryp continued to exist as a separate brand within the sol meli group . rights to the tryp brand were sold to wyndham worldwide in 2010 but sol meli continues to own and operate the hotels under a licensing agreement . 10 on 3 june 2011 the company changed its name to meli hotels international . citation needed the company has recently sought to forge partnerships with other companies in the leisure industry opening hotels based on the hard rock cafe concept in conjunction with then parent the rank group joint venture dissolved in 2007 11 12 and flintstones themed hotels with warner bros. 6 although publicly traded since 1996 the escarrer family continues to control meli hotels holding a combined stake of over 63 % at the end of 2010 . 1 operations edit the company employs various commercial brands to offer their product including gran meli meli hotels & resorts me by meli innside sol hotels paradisus resorts and club meli formerly known as sol meli vacation club . in 2010 they divested themselves of their tryp hotels brand when it was sold to wyndham hotels . the firm operates more than 330 hotels as of january 2015 of which over 160 are in spain . of the other 230 countries in which meli hotels international operates the largest numbers of hotels are located in cuba germany croatia brazil and portugal . 13 trademark dispute edit in late 2008 hotel meli inc. hmi a century old family owned hotel in ponce puerto rico filed a complaint against sol meli in the court of first instance after sol meli attempted to register the name meli with the puerto rico department of state aserting that hotel meli inc. had the sole right to use the meli mark in connection with hotel and restaurant services throughout puerto rico . 14 as a result sol meli withdrew its application . but s.l. dorpan a wholly owned subsidiary of sol meli subsequently filed a complaint against hmi in the united states district court for the district of puerto rico seeking a declaration that under the lanham act dorpan had the right to use the mark meli throughout puerto rico and that hmi had the right to use the name meli only in the city of ponce . the district court issued an opinion on 31 march 2012 ruling in favor of sol meli . 15 hmi then appealed the decision of the us district court for the district of puerto rico to the first circuit court of appeals in boston . on 28 august 2013 the court of appeals issued its opinion vacating the lower district court s decision and ruling in favor of ponce s local hotel meli . 16 criticisms edit meli hotels received strong critics because of hosting a tribute to the dictator francisco franco . 17 18 more than 62.000 people signed against this but the hotel decided to keep the tribute anyway . 19 also the hotel board rejected to meet the representative of the association foro por la memoria de la comunidad de madrid representing signatoires . 20 references edit a b c d e f g annual report 2010 . sol meli . retrieved 8 may 2011 . brandt nadja 4 june 2007 . deutsche telekom ryanair sol melia european equity preview . bloomberg . retrieved 2008 12 07 . harding ben ; hetz robert 11 november 2008 . spain s sol melia cuts capex gloomy on 2009 . reuters . retrieved 2008 12 07 . harding ben 7 august 2008 . sol melia s h1 profit drops 41 pct to miss target . reuters . retrieved 2008 12 07 . melia hotels international targets asia for growth . investvine.com . 2013 02 21 . retrieved 2013 02 22 . a b c d e f g h cohen m.l. 2006 . sol meli s.a. . international directory of company histories . the gale group . retrieved 2008 12 07 . annual report 2004 . sol meli . retrieved 2008 12 07 . sol melia will pay 326.8 million for spanish hotel group tryp . the wall street journal . 22 august 2000 . retrieved 2008 12 07 . sol meli sella un acuerdo para la compra de hoteles tryp . el mundo in spanish . 1 august 2008 . retrieved 2008 12 07 . chang michelle 7 june 2010 . wyndham buys tryp brand . toronto star . retrieved 8 may 2011 . rank group plans hard rock s growth . the new york times . associated press . 19 june 2003 . retrieved 21 october 2010 . milligan michael 22 january 2007 . sol melia confident that me brand will stand out from the crowd . travel weekly . retrieved 9 february 2016 . hotel directory . meli hotels international . retrieved 16 jan 2015 . civil no. 09 1188 docket no. 1 1 . superior court of puerto rico . court of first instance . ponce puerto rico . dorpan s.l. v. hotel melia inc. civil nos. 09 1138 gag 09 1188 gag . 851 f.supp .2 d 398 2012 . dorpan s.l. plaintiff v. hotel melia inc. et al. defendants . united states district court district of puerto rico . 31 march 2012 . retrieved 9 september 2013 . united states court of appeals for the first circuit no. 12 1679 dorpan s.l. v. hotel melia inc. retrieved 9 september 2013 . meli messes up by hosting franco tribute . 02b . com . 2015 11 19 . retrieved 2015 12 02 . ibon ur a 2015 11 17 . la cadena hotelera meli acepta acoger una cena de la fundaci n franco para homenajear al dictador . infolibre.es . retrieved 2015 12 02 . marta borraz 2015 11 30 . el hotel meli castilla se resiste a cancelar el homenaje a franco pese a las m s de 60.000 firmas recogidas . eldiario.es . retrieved 2015 12 02 . 62.000 firmas contra el homenaje a franco en el hotel meli . p blico spain . 2015 12 02 . retrieved 2015 12 02 . external links edit official website melia hotels in cuba online reservations travel and tourism . 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