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Hotel Meliá

Not to be confused with Meliá Hotels International.

Hotel Meliá
Hotel Meliá en Ponce. Puerto Rico, located across from Plaza Degetau
Hotel Meliá is located in Puerto Rico
Hotel Meliá
Location within Puerto Rico
General information
Architectural styleColonial
LocationPonce, Puerto Rico
Address75 Cristina Street[1]
Coordinates18°0′42.4″N 66°36′47.2″W / 18.011778°N 66.613111°W / 18.011778; -66.613111
Opening1895[2](Founder: Bartolo Meliá)
OwnerCurrent:
Prime Holdings Group[3]
Historical:
The Meliá family[4] Family-owned and operated since 1895
(DBA Hotel Meliá Inc.)[5]
ManagementNicolas Albors Meliá, GM[6]
Raul Albors, Exec. Mgr.[1][6]
Technical details
Floor count4
Design and construction
Architect(s)Alfredo Wiechers Pieretti
Francisco Porrata Doria
Enrique Soler Cloqull[7][8][9]
Other information
Number of rooms73[10]
Number of restaurants1 (Panorama)[11]
Number of bars1
ParkingOn site[12]
Website
Hotel Meliá

Hotel Meliá is a historic[13] colonial style[14] family owned and operated hotel located in the Ponce Historic Zone in Ponce, Puerto Rico. It is the oldest continuously operating hotel in Puerto Rico.[15][2] Hotel Meliá, which was founded over 60 years before the much larger Meliá Hotels International chain opened its first lodging facility, bears no relation to the multi-hotel chain headquartered in Spain.[16][17]

Location

The colonial facade of Hotel Meliá is located across from Parque de Bombas in Plaza Las Delicias, in downtown Ponce.[16]

Design

The hotel lobby, with its polished wood paneling, plush seating and marble floors is traditional of the hotel's long-recognized throwback elegance.[16] The hotel has been called "reminiscent of Old World Spain'."[18] Hotel Meliá Ponce's design was inspired by a small hotel in Barcelona, Spain. The tile on the second floor is similar to what is oftentimes seen in an Old World Spanish hotel. "The feeling of Europe is evident also in the layout of the property as one level up from the lobby there is an open air area...the architecture is a "unique mix of cultures with the Spanish influence reinvented”.[18]

History

In 1890, Bartolo Meliá moved from Mallorca, Spain to Ponce to take an accounting job. Once he arrived to Puerto Rico, Meliá discovered that the owners of the business he was to take a job at were in jail. Not discouraged, he settled in Ponce and opened a small grocery store across Plaza Las Delicias. Meliá imported many goods from Europe which established his reputation as a popular grocer in the city. Thanks to his success as a grocer, he expanded his store into a restaurant. Seeing the need for an overnight stay of drivers making their trips from San Juan to Ponce and the convenient location of his grocery-restaurant, he then expanded into a small hotel.[18]

Bartolo Meliá founded the Meliá in 1895.[13][19] It was originally a 2-story structure but was later converted into a four-story building as the hotel business expanded.[20] From very early times the hotel became well known for its attention to personal details, cleanliness, hospitality, service and courtesy. It quickly became a preferred destination for Ponce business travelers. "Mr. Meliá is a prince of hosts, and a man who never grudges at going out of his way to oblige a guest."[20]

Meliá was the first hotel in Puerto Rico to offer a telephone line and a private bathroom in each room.[21][22] As the business grew, so did the hotel. It saw major expansions in 1915, 1940 and 1960. The original hotel faced Plaza Las Delicias, but in 1915 Alfredo Wiechers Pieretti redesigned it to have its entrance on Calle Cristina, increasing the number of its rooms from nine to 21. In 1940, Francisco Porrata Doria added 26 new rooms bringing the total number of rooms to 47. In 1960, 26 additional rooms yet were added by Enrique Soler Cloquell[8][9] bringing the total to the actual number of 73 rooms.[2][3]

Management

Since 1895, the hotel had been in the Melia family for four generations, doing business under the corporate name Hotel Melia, Inc., but in July 2013, the hotel was bought by Prime Holdings Group, a Ponce investment group headed by Abel Misla, the dean of the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Puerto Rico School of Architecture. The new owners plan to redesign the hotel to give it a more 19th-century Spanish-themed, boutique hotel.[3]

Trademark dispute

In late 2008, Hotel Melia Inc (HMI) filed a complaint against Sol Meliá in the Court of First Instance after the Spanish company attempted to register the name "Melia" with the Puerto Rico Department of State asserting that Hotel Melia Inc "had the sole right to use the Meliá mark in connection with hotel and restaurant services throughout Puerto Rico."[23] As a result, Sol Melia withdrew its application. But S.L. Dorpan, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sol Meliá, 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 Meliá throughout Puerto Rico" and that HMI had the right to use the name Melia only in the city of Ponce. The District Court then ruled in favor of Sol Melia.[24] 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 HMI.[1]

Guests

Several prominent figures have been guests at the Melia, including Libertad Lamarque, María Antonieta Pons, Yolanda "Tongolele" Montes and Ninón Sevilla,[3] as well as Pedro Albizu Campos.[25] U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt was also a guest at this hotel. So were Ann and Gene Gillam.[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c United States Court of Appeals For the First Circuit (No. 12-1679): Dorpan, S.L. v. Hotel Melia, Inc. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
  2. ^ a b c About Us. Hotel Meliá. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d Histórico pase de batón en el Hotel Meliá. Reinaldo Millán & Jason Rodríguez Grafal. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Year 31. Issue 1549. Page 4. 7 August 2013. Retrieved 8 August 2013.
  4. ^ Hotel Meliá Ponce. Archived 2014-04-13 at the Wayback Machine Ultimate Island Guide. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
  5. ^ a b Boston favorece al Meliá de Ponce. Andrea Martínez. El Nuevo Dia. Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. 30 August 2013. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
  6. ^ a b Travel with Stephanie Abrams! - January 31, 2010 - Shownotes & Audio Archive. Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine Stephanie Abrams. 31 January 2010. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  7. ^ Panorama: oasis en el centro histórico. (Printed version: Oasis bajo las estrellas.) Gary Gutierrez. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Year 32. Issue 1583. Page 22. 2 April 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  8. ^ a b El Meliá: de vuelta a su emblemático pasado. Gladyra Archilla. La Perla del Sur. Year 33. Issue 1697. Page 14. 8 June 2016. Accessed 8 June 2016.
  9. ^ a b El Meliá: de vuelta a su emblemático pasado. Gladyra Archilla. La Perla del Sur. (Printed version: Year 33. Issue 1697. Page 14. 8–14 June 2016.) Accessed 8 June 2016.
  10. ^ Hotel Meliá Ponce. Pronto Hotel.com. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
  11. ^ Ponceños lanzan exitosa línea comercial. Reinaldo Millan. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 11 September 2013. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
  12. ^ Melia Hotel Ponce, Calle Cristina 75. Virtual Tourist. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  13. ^ a b Hotel Meliá Ponce. Archived 5 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
  14. ^ Hotel Hotel Meliá Ponce. A-Puerto-Rico.com. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
  15. ^ Historico Pase de Baton: Con Nuevo Liderato la Hospederia Mas Longeva del Pais. Reinaldo Millan and Jason Rodriguez. La Perla del Sur. (Printed Edition) Year 31. Issue 1549. Page 4. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 13 August 2013. Accessed 20 April 2016.
  16. ^ a b c Review of Hotel Meliá in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Archived 6 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine Zain Deane. About.com Guide. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  17. ^ Cohen, M.L. (2006). "Sol Meliá S.A.". International Directory of Company Histories. The Gale Group. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  18. ^ a b c Travel with Stephanie Abrams! - January 31, 2010 - Shownotes & Audio Archive. Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine Stephanie Abrams. 31 January 2010. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  19. ^ Meliá Ponce Hotel. Terry Mann. USA Today. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
  20. ^ a b Hotel Meliá, Ponce, Porto Rico. Overland Monthly and Out West Magazine. Vol. 73. No. 4. April 1919. Page 348. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
  21. ^ Fay Fowlie de Flores. Ponce, Perla del Sur: Una Bibliografía Anotada. Second Edition. 1997. Ponce, Puerto Rico: Universidad de Puerto Rico en Ponce. p. 62. Item 314. LCCN 92-75480
  22. ^ Boletín Oficial de la Camara de Comercio de Puerto Rico. Volume 10 (September 1934) pp. 1-216.
  23. ^ Civil No. 09-1188, Docket No. 1-1. Superior Court of Puerto Rico. Court of First Instance. Ponce, Puerto Rico.
  24. ^ Dorpan, S.L. v. Hotel Melia, Inc. Civil Nos. 09-1138 (GAG), 09-1188(GAG). 851 F.Supp.2d 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.
  25. ^ Federal Bureau of Investigation. Subject: Pedro Albizu Campos. File 105-11898. Section IX. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Freedom of Information: Privacy Acts Section. Office of Public and Congressional Affairs. Project: "The FBI Files on Puerto Ricans." Page 12 (Revised as page 15). Retrieved 9 August 2013.
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