New Mercure Hotels for Thailand

Accor has had a turbulent time establishing its mid market Mercure brand in the Thai market. Recently Accor quietly finished its management contract with the Mercure Resort Koh Samui which leaves the hotel company with only one remaining Mercure in Thailand - the Mercure Chonburi.

In a press conference late last week, Mr Michael Issenberg, Managing Director Asia Pacific, Accor confirmed that this was about to change with new properties already confirmed and others in the pipeline to meet growing demand for quality three star hotels.

Mr Issenberg said, "We have work to do with the Mercure brand. We have been very successful with the Sofitel and Novotel brands in Thailand but have not been with Mercure".

One of the confirmed hotels is a 200 room new build property, which will be branded a Mercure. Costing approximately US$ 4 million the new hotel will be located in bustling Pattaya and is expected to open late 2004.

Another property which has not yet been confirmed but looks likely, is a new Mercure for the North West region of Thailand. This hotel is to be a conversion of an existing property and is expected to take three months to convert to Mercure standards.

Mr Issenberg said he expects Accor to have between 20 to 25 new hotels in the Asia-Pacific region by the end of next year with around five new properties in Thailand alone. He added that Accor would love to have more than one Mercure in Bangkok, and that while location still makes the difference choosing the right partners to work with is the key.