About le mu00e9ridien hotels & resorts rle mu00e9ridien, the paris-born hotel brand currently represented by nearly 100 properties in more than 40 countries, was acquired by starwood hotels & resorts worldwide, inc. (nyse: hot) in november 2005. with more than 80 of its properties located in europe, africa, the middle east, and asia-pacific, le mu00e9ridien provided a strong international complement to starwoodu2019s then primarily north american holdings at the time of purchase. since then, le mu00e9ridien has gone through a brand re-launch, which included a large scale hotels product consolidation as well as redefining its brand strategy. through creation of the lm100 artist community, le mu00e9ridien has transformed numerous guest touch points, thus bringing unique, interactive and curated experiences to its guests. plans call for dynamic expansion of le mu00e9ridien hotels and resorts within the next five years, concentrating on markets in asia-pacific and the americas. le mu00e9ridien recently opened new hotels in bali (indonesia), atlanta (georgia, usa), dallas (texas, usa), santa monica (california, usa), yixing (china), zhengzhou (china), cairo (egypt), and will open in the next 12 months in bangkok (thailand), gujarat (india), mahabaleshwar (india), ho chi minh city (vietnam), dhaka (bangladesh), chicago (illinois, usa), indianapolis (indiana, usa), tampa (florida, usa) and columbus (ohio, usa). for more information, please visit www.lemeridien.com or www.facebook.com/lemeridien. follow @lemeridienhotels on instagram and @lemeridien on twitter.