Meliã’s Marti Aragones & Brenda Bradley
Nieves Ricardo of the Cuba Tourist Board
Meliã Hotels Cuba recently celebrated the launch of peak booking season with an end of summer dinner cruise on the Yankee Lady IV along Toronto’s lakeshore. Several of their top agent, tour operator and tourist board guests remarked that perhaps it was a tad risky to expect a perfect summer evening in October – but, the Meliã folks must have foreseen our endless summer and hit the perfect evening.
We sailed off under the most gorgeous sunset and as the sky darkened Toronto lit up to create a spectacular backdrop – and we could even enjoy it from the outdoor decks of our big yacht.
Everyone was invited to enjoy the views, mingle, sip cocktails and help themselves to the tasty paella and seasoned shrimp as we enjoyed a local Cuban band’s musical performance.
Our hosts Meliã Sales Executive Brenda Bradley and Marti Aragones, Director of Sales & Marketing for Canada, kicked off the evening by encouraging everyone to relax and enjoy and promised to keep the formalities short and to the point. And, we all raised our glasses to the good news that none of the Cuba properties had suffered a direct hit from Hurricane Matthew which thankfully skirted the island causing minimal damage to populated areas.
The Meliã Hotels group now boasts 450 properties worldwide with 28 in Cuba alone, not counting their their soon to open 5th Paradisus (Cayo Santa Maria), 15 Meliã Resorts, 7 Sol Hoteles and 2 Tryp Hoteles.
On tap for the upcoming season is the opening of the Family Concierge at Paradisus Varadero for the Winter 2016/17 season. The new 284 room section offers Junior Suites and Master Suites with a plethora of dedicated perks and facilities for families with children under the age of 18 including their own restaurants, bars, pools, kids club, lounge and function rooms.
Also stay tuned for special incentive programs as well as a dedicated Weddings product that will be launched in the coming months.
The perfect evening on the lake was topped off by a guests dancing to the Cuban beats as we docked to disembark.
