Spanish hotel chain Sol Melia said on Monday it is set to start construction of ME Vienna, a new hotel that will be located at the 60-floor DC Tower 1 in the Donau-City district of the Austrian capital. At 220 metres, the skyscraper will be Austria's highest structure, Sol Melia said in a statement. The move follows the launch this year of the ME brand in another skyscraper in Barcelona, the Hotel Sky. The new ME Vienna is the hotel operator's first property in Austria.

Spanish hotel chain Sol Melia said on Monday it is set to start construction of ME Vienna, a new hotel that will be located at the 60-floor DC Tower 1 in the Donau-City district of the Austrian capital. At 220 metres, the skyscraper will be Austria's highest structure, Sol Melia said in a statement. The move follows the launch this year of the ME brand in another skyscraper in Barcelona, the Hotel Sky. The new ME Vienna is the hotel operator's first property in Austria.

In a statement, Sol Meliá said it is investing in the project together with a group of Austrian partners including Bauträger Austria Immobilien and Wiener Entwicklungsgesellschaft für den Donauraum (WED), a company established to carry out the urban development of the new Donau-City district. Designed by French star architect Dominique Perrault, the new Meta-Buildings tower will be located close to the UN headquarters.

Thomas Jakoubek of WED said: 'Vienna's Donau-City aims to be the home for international companies attending to Eastern markets. The arrival of a showpiece urban hotel such as ME Vienna assures a vibrant and cosmopolitan touch to this new business area, destined to become a hotspot for locals and international visitors alike.'

'This venture offers the Sol Meliá group yet another opportunity to reinforce our commitment to Austria and our German-speaking markets,' said Gabriel Escarrer Jaume, vice-chairman and CEO of Sol Meliá.