MADRID— Hard Rock International and Sol Meliá Hotels and Resorts reported that their joint-venture company, Lifestar Hoteles Espana S.L., will manage Europes first Hard Rock Hotel in Madrid. The 201-room Tryp Reina Victoria Hotel, which is held by Sol Meliá under a long-term lease, is in the heart of Madrids old city in the western end of the Plaza de Santa Ana. The hotel will undergo an extensive refurbishment and will be re-branded the Hard Rock Hotel Madrid. Keith Hobbs of London-based United Designers has been selected as the projects interior designer. The joint venture will manage the hotel under the terms of a long-term management contract. The hotel is scheduled to open late 2005. Madrid will be the fourth Hard Rock Hotel to be part of the joint venture between Hard Rock Cafe International and Sol Meliá SA since its formation in 2003. The others are in Chicago, which opened in 2003; New York, scheduled to open in 2005; and San Diego, slated to open in 2006.