Above: the new Meliá Jardines del Rey

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Melia has opened its newest all-inclusive resort in the Caribbean: the Meliá Jardines del Rey.

The family-oriented, all-inclusive resort began operations at the turn of the new year in the Cayo Coco beach area of Cuba.

The resort opened in its first phase with a total of 624 rooms, part of an eventual total of 1,176 rooms that will be fully open in February, according to the property’s web site and a government statement.

That will include nine restaurants and six bars in a setting designed to “resemble a sugar plantation,” according to the company.

The resort is located on Playa Flamenco in Cayo Coco.

Melia has long been a major tourism player in Cuba, catering in large part to the significant Canadian source market to Cuba.

Melia now has a total of 27 hotels in eight tourist destinations in Cuba.

Cuba’s tourist market is attracting more and more attention regionally in light of the recent rapprochement between the United States and Cuba, which could eventually pave the way for full-scale, legal tourism by US visitors to the island.

If and when that occurs, Melia will be among the hotel companies best positioned for their arrival.