Le Méridien

Le Méridien is an upscale, design-focused international hotel brand with a European perspective, formerly headquartered in France and in the United Kingdom. It is owned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, and has a portfolio of 100 hotels in over 40 countries worldwide.

History

The Le Méridien brand was established in 1972 by Air France "to provide on a home away from home for its customers." The first Le Méridien property was a 1,000-room hotel in Paris — Le Méridien Etoile. Within two years of operation, the group had 10 hotels in Europe and Africa. Within the first six years, the number of hotels had risen to 21 hotels in Europe, Africa, the French West Indies, Canada, South America, the Middle East and Mauritius. By 1991, the total number of Le Méridien properties had risen to 58.

In late 1994, Le Méridien was acquired by UK hotel company Forte Group, which in turn was acquired by Granada plc in 1996. Through a merger in the summer of 2000 between Granada Group and global contract caterer Compass Group — and the subsequent de-merger of the two companies in February 2001 — the ownership of the Forte Hotels division and its three brands (Le Méridien, Heritage Hotels and Posthouse Forte) passed solely to Compass.