Le Méridien
In 1972, Air France established Meridien Hotels to house its own flight crews in major hub cities. The airline promoted the chain and handled all reservations for these new properties. The first property was a massive 1,000-room hotel located in the heart of Paris. This building is now known as Le Méridien Paris Arc de Triomphe. Within two years, the chain grew to include ten hotels across Europe and Africa. By six years later, the network had expanded to twenty-one hotels spanning the globe.
Air France sold its controlling interest in Meridien Hotels Inc. to the UK-based Forte Group in 1994. The transaction involved a 57.3% stake valued at $207 million. At that time, Meridien Hotels numbered fifty-eight properties globally. An eighteen-month battle for control preceded this sale between Forte, German-based Kempinski, and French hospitality company Accor. The European Commission pressured Air France to sell to Forte in exchange for a vital 20 billion Franc bailout for the airline. Granada won a hostile takeover battle for Forte in January 1996. They assumed control of Forte for $5.9 billion. In May 1996, Granada announced it would retain the eighty-five hotels in the Meridien chain while selling the luxury Forte Hotels division.
Nomura Group acquired Le Méridien Hotels & Resorts from Compass in May 2001 for £1.9 billion. Lehman Brothers Holdings acquired the senior debt of Le Méridien in December 2003. US-based Starwood purchased Le Méridien on the 24th of November 2005. A joint venture between Lehman Brothers and Starwood Capital Group obtained the leased and owned real estate assets separately. Over five years following the acquisition, forty-five of these one hundred thirty properties were sold. Twenty new ones were added to the chain during that same period. Marriott gained the Le Méridien brand as part of its acquisition of Starwood in September 2016.
As of June 2021, the portfolio included 109 open hotels with 29,439 rooms. The pipeline contained 37 hotels with 9,585 upcoming rooms. North America held twenty properties with 4,473 rooms in 2016. Europe managed fifteen properties containing 5,051 rooms during that year. Asia and Pacific regions hosted forty-two properties totaling 10,973 rooms. The Middle East and Africa combined had twenty-seven properties with 7,530 rooms. Caribbean and Latin America maintained two properties with 271 rooms. By 2023, global properties reached 119 with a total room count of 31,029 across all regions.
The Palestine Hotel in Baghdad opened as the Palestine Méridien Hotel in 1982. UN sanctions slapped on Iraq after the Gulf War caused Le Méridien to sever affiliation with this hotel in 1991. The Langham Hotel Boston was repurposed as a Le Méridien hotel in 1981 before becoming a Langham in 2003. The Grand Nile Tower Hotel opened as Le Méridien Cairo in 1974 but left the chain in 2002. The McGraw, Hill Building in Chicago was demolished in 1998. Its façade and location were repurposed for Le Méridien Chicago which opened in 2000. This property later became The Gwen in honor of artist Gwen Lux who built the original structure. The Palace Theatre in Melbourne converted into a Le Méridien hotel in March 2023 at a cost of $100 million.
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Common questions
When was Le Méridien founded by Air France?
Air France established Meridien Hotels in 1972 to house its own flight crews. The first property opened as a massive 1,000-room hotel located in the heart of Paris.
Who acquired Le Méridien on the 24th of November 2005?
US-based Starwood purchased Le Méridien on the 24th of November 2005. A joint venture between Lehman Brothers and Starwood Capital Group obtained the leased and owned real estate assets separately from this transaction.
What happened to the Palestine Hotel Baghdad after the Gulf War?
UN sanctions slapped on Iraq after the Gulf War caused Le Méridien to sever affiliation with this hotel in 1991. The Palestine Hotel in Baghdad had originally opened as the Palestine Méridien Hotel in 1982.
How many hotels did Le Méridien have globally by 2023?
By 2023, global properties reached 119 with a total room count of 31,029 across all regions. This growth followed an expansion where forty-five of one hundred thirty properties were sold over five years following the acquisition.
When did Marriott gain the Le Méridien brand through acquisition?
Marriott gained the Le Méridien brand as part of its acquisition of Starwood in September 2016. Prior to this sale, Granada won a hostile takeover battle for Forte in January 1996 which included the chain.