UPMARKET hotel chain Sofitel is embarking on a three-year expansion drive starting in April with the opening of hotels in Philadelphia and New York.
The hotel chain, owned by French group Accor, will open about one hotel a month over the next three years.
This will increase its current 113-strong hotel portfolio by 35% by the end of next year. The $100m hotel in New York, and the $55m property in Philadelphia are the first Sofitels to open in the US for 10 years.
Later this year, a hotel will open in Chicago and next year, the chain is adding hotels in Washington, close to the White House, and Dallas, next to the existing Mansion on Turtle Creek.
It is also opening eight hotels in South America and four in the Caribbean.
A flagship property is due to open in Pall Mall, London, in 2001, and will be the first Sofitel in the UK. The Sofitel Berlin Friedrichstrasse will open later this year.
The group claimed these key openings would help raise awareness of the Sofitel name.
Accor New York Hotels director of sales and marketing Ron Neuman said: “In the past we have often been mistaken for a telecommunications company.”
Only in its home market of France has Sofitel enjoyed a high profile, and even there it is still not as widely recognised as its mid-market sister brand Novotel.
Unlike most of today’s hotel chains, which prefer to operate hotels under management contracts but rely on outside investors to fund the real estate, Sofitel’s development is being wholly backed by its parent company.
“This means we will still be around in 10 years’ time,” said Neuman. “While other hotels change name every two or three years, ours will remain the same.
“Likewise, ours are not trendy designer hotels that will go out of fashion.”
The interior design of the New York property, on 44th street between fifth and sixth avenues, is based on the existing Paris flagship property, the Sofitel Le Faubourg. Neuman believes it will be Sofitel’s French flavour that will help it make an impact in the US market.
“We’re not a US company, We have a very strong European culture,” he said.
“We will be transporting the exotic, romantic, sexy feeling of Paris, in terms of the food, décor and amenities and bringing this together with the US service standards.”