Meliá Hotels International
How Learnlight helped Meliá deliver consistent, high-quality language training to a global hospitality workforce across cultures, time zones, and demanding schedules.
Founded in Mallorca in 1956, Meliá Hotels International has grown into one of the world’s leading hotel groups, with a portfolio of more than 400 hotels across 40 countries and nine distinct brands. As the first Spanish hotel company to go public and to establish a global presence in key markets (including China, the Middle East, and the US), Meliá has built its reputation on operational excellence and the warmth that defines Spanish hospitality.
That reputation is delivered by people. Across every property and every market, Meliá’s front-line teams are the brand in the eyes of the guest. Their ability to communicate with confidence, cultural awareness, and care shapes the guest experience. For a company serving guests from every corner of the world, language and communication capability is a core operational priority and an investment that reflects the kind of employer Meliá has chosen to be.
The business challenge
When Meliá first partnered with Learnlight in 2020, the scale of the challenge was clear. With a workforce spanning multiple time zones, diverse native languages, and varying levels of proficiency, ensuring consistent, high-quality language learning across all regions was a significant undertaking. In hospitality, where staff are guest-facing and schedules are relentless, finding time for training added another layer of complexity.
Meliá needed a language training partner that could operate at global scale, adapt to local needs, and deliver a learning experience flexible enough to work within the realities of a hospitality workforce.
The learnlight solution
Learnlight designed a blended language training program spanning six languages: English, German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Italian.
The program combines two complementary formats:
- Learnlight Coach pairs employees with a dedicated trainer for live, structured sessions. These build on the skills developed through Learnlight’s online platform, deepening confidence and fluency in real-world communication.
- Learnlight Digital gives learners access to an interactive, online, self-study service they can fit around the demands of a hospitality schedule.
Together, the two formats give Meliá the human interaction that drives engagement and the flexibility that makes participation sustainable at scale.
The results of that design are visible in the program’s growth. What began with 246 learners in 2020 has expanded steadily over five years, with 2,606 employees trained across 3,897 courses to date, spanning properties and teams across the regions Meliá operates in.
The results
Five years of consistent, structured language training has delivered outcomes that go well beyond proficiency gains.
Engagement and satisfaction
- 4.8/5 learner satisfaction rate based on 12,374 ratings
- 74% attendance rate across a global, shift-based hospitality workforce
Proficiency uplift
- 978 learners reached B2 (upper-intermediate), equipping them to communicate confidently in complex, real-world guest interactions
- 155 learners progressed to C1 (advanced), positioning them to operate effectively across international contexts and take on higher-responsibility roles
Business impact
- Communication confidence: employees report feeling more assured in guest-facing interactions
- Consistency: a standardized program delivered across regions and time zones
- Talent development: a measurable pipeline of employees reaching advanced proficiency levels.
“At Meliá, our people are the guest experience, and communication is what makes that experience exceptional. When employees feel confident in how they communicate, you see it immediately. They engage more, they connect better, and they deliver the standard of service our guests expect.”
— Pilar López Moreno, Learning Specialist, Meliá
A partnership five years on
Meliá’s partnership with Learnlight has deepened over time, adapting to the evolving needs of a global hospitality business and consistently delivering results.
Central to that consistency is the quality of Learnlight’s trainers. Meliá highlights teacher adaptability as a defining feature of the partnership: trainers who meet learners where they are, flex to different needs, and make sessions genuinely engaging.
As Pilar puts it: “What began as a language training program has become something more strategic: a way of building the communication capability our business needs to operate consistently and confidently at a global scale.”
WHAT CUSTOMERS SAY
“Learnlight work with us to really understand our needs and create training solutions that are tailored to our business needs. They provide engaging teachers who have really helped to bring the realities of working internationally to life.”
“In Learnlight we found the perfect partner for the launch and implementation of an innovative and effective language program, we regard the English Program (general and managerial) our most valued training initiative.”
“We are highly satisfied with the Learnlight service as they understood how to adapt to our requirements. They have an excellent methodology and the satisfaction rates, and the development of our employees has been second to none”
”The quality of the teachers is one of the company’s best assets, along with the management of all the paperwork involved in the program. Additionally, the platform makes virtual classes a highly effective option.”
“Leonardo Marques is one of the best teachers I have ever had. I wish I had had someone in my school years who showed as much empathy and sensitivity as he does. I look forward to my training session every week, and the combination of daily business with English and personal experiences makes it the best English course I have ever attended.”
“Learnlight work with us to really understand our needs and create training solutions that are tailored to our business needs. They provide engaging teachers who have really helped to bring the realities of working internationally to life.”
“In Learnlight we found the perfect partner for the launch and implementation of an innovative and effective language program, we regard the English Program (general and managerial) our most valued training initiative.”
“We are highly satisfied with the Learnlight service as they understood how to adapt to our requirements. They have an excellent methodology and the satisfaction rates, and the development of our employees has been second to none”
“Leonardo Marques is one of the best teachers I have ever had. I wish I had had someone in my school years who showed as much empathy and sensitivity as he does. I look forward to my training session every week, and the combination of daily business with English and personal experiences makes it the best English course I have ever attended.”