Accor plans roll-out of Mercure hotels in the UK – 11 April 2007

Accor Hotels has announced plans to open 24 new properties under its mid-market Mercure brand in the UK.

Until now the hotel chain has only operated two Mercure hotels in the UK – Mercure London City Bankside and Mercure Brigstow in Bristol.

The openings will create a network of 26 Mercure hotels in the UK with 2,511 rooms. The hotels are owned by Moorfield Real Estate Fund, which recently bought the hotels from Macdonald Hotels.

Some of the hotels bought by the fund that will now be converted into Mercure hotels include The Castle Hotel in Windsor, Queens Hotel in Cheltenham, Holland House Hotel and Spa in Cardiff and Ardoe House Hotel and Spa in Aberdeen.

Mercure, described by Accor as its mid and upper-mid market hotel brand, already has nearly 750 hotels worldwide and is particularly strong in continental Europe, Australia and Africa.

Director of marketing and distribution Roger Smith said the Mercure brand’s reputation for good service, good food and its own wine list – a selection of specially chosen affordable wines – would be the key selling points for the hotel chain.

Accor already has 97 hotels in the UK: two Sofitel, 30 Novotel, two Mercure, 47 Ibis, six Etap Hotels and 10 Formule 1 hotels.