The resort with which Barceló landed on the islands passes into the hands of Meliá

End to uncertainty about the management of the Whale Lagoon Maldivesthe five-star resort that championed the debut of Barceló Hotel Group on the islands during the summer of 2023. According to knowledgeable sources, the management of the complex located on the island of Bodufinolhu, in the South Ari Atoll, about 110 kilometers from Malé, the capital of the Maldives, has been the subject of negotiation in recent months after the Brown Investments fund, based in Sri Lanka, transferred ownership of the asset to the local firm investment and hotel property ASB Hotel Properties Maldives Private Limited in exchange for 57.5 million dollars (around 50 million euros at the exchange rate).

Although the official documentation of the transfer did not refer to a change of operator in the first instance, the change of owner has brought under its arm a ‘made in Spain’ relief on the management of the asset that now bears the seal of Meliá Hotels International. This is reflected in the official channels of the Balearic hotel company, which groups its new establishment under the portfolio of its franchise network. Affiliated by Melia.

On this complex made up of a hundred luxury villas and suites, many of them bathed by the turquoise waters of the Indian Ocean, Barceló focused years ago to formalize its arrival on the islands that paved the way for its expansion with the opening last April of the Barceló Nasandhura Malé, its second hotel in the Maldivian archipelago. The latter is a five-star urban establishment, 136 rooms and 116 designer apartments.

In this context, the loss of the Whale Lagoon does not seem to be due to a withdrawal of Barceló in the Asian market, where it maintains a firm commitment staged in more than a dozen hotels spread across six countries: Maldives, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, UAE and Oman. At the end of the year, Barceló plans to have invested around 500 million euros in the acquisition of new assets and renovations of existing properties. Under this rhythm, the group hopes to bookend 2025 as another record year for its business after earning 300 million in the last year supported by the great performance of its hotel division.

On the other hand, the operation reinforces its commitment to the Maldives, where it is finalizing the opening of the first luxury resort of The Meliá Collection, located in the picturesque Baa Atoll. Its commitment to growing in the Indian Ocean complements its dominance over the Pacific, where manages a portfolio of 54 hotels and nearly 15,300 roomsaccording to data shared in its quarterly results at the end of September.

Back in operation, the change of hands is framed in a context of dynamic growth for the Maldives hotel sector, whose size faces a growth of 2.5 billion dollars in 2025 to almost 3.9 billion in 2030according to the latest annual report of Mordor Intelligence, driven by strong demand in the luxury segment, constant development of new resorts and increased air connectivity to key markets in Asia and Europe