Paris, Today’s inauguration of the 4,000th Accor hotel, the Novotel Madrid Sanchinarro, represents an important milestone in the Group’s international expansion. It attests to the vitality of Accor’s pioneering Novotel chain in Spain, a country that is a key focus of its expansion strategy.

Located on the outskirts of the Spanish capital, ten minutes from the Barajas airport and the Ifema fairgrounds, the new property has broadened Accor’s fast-growing hotel base in Spain. Today, the Group has 51 properties on the Iberian peninsula, including 4 Sofitel, 10 Novotel, 1 Mercure, 26 Ibis, 3 Etap Hotel and 7 Formule 1.

The Novotel Madrid Sanchinarro and its 134 Novation rooms illustrate the chain’s innovative, contemporary style. The latest generation Novation rooms feature a bathroom designed as a living area, with natural lighting. Room decoration combines wood, light hues and bright colors, creating a living environment that offers guests rest and relaxation.

The Novotel Madrid Sanchinarro offers a 50-seat conference room, with the latest AV equipment and business meeting technologies.

To relax, customers can use the pool or terrace and get a quick snack at the Quinzai bar, open from 8:00 a.m. until midnight. The Claravia restaurant, a food service concept tailored to Spanish dining habits, showcases traditional Mediterranean cuisine.

Sustained development, with 4,000 hotels in 92 countries

Nearly 40 years after the opening of the first Novotel, the Group’s original chain, Novotel Madrid Sanchinarro is the 4,000th hotel in the Accor network.

Founded as a resolutely modern hotel concept, Novotel has developed a steady stream of innovations over the years. Although created to deliver consistent services to business travelers around the world, the brand has broadened its customer base to attract families by becoming the first hotel chain to allow children to stay for free. Today, with a new room and dining concept, Novotel is deploying a network of hotels that anticipate the expectations of today’s increasingly demanding customers.

In the hotel industry, Accor has built its success on 9 major hotel chains, covering every market segment—from economy to luxury—and serving business and leisure customers. Each of its brands—Formule 1, Etap Hotel, Ibis, Suitehotel, Mercure, Novotel and Sofitel, as well as Red Roof Inn and Motel 6 in the United States—broke new ground in the existing hotel offering, meeting the specific needs of an ever-increasing number of travelers around the world.

In 1972, Accor opened its first hotel outside France—a Novotel in Neufchâtel, Switzerland, followed by initial openings in the Unites States, with the Sofitel Minneapolis in 1974, in Africa in 1975 and in Brazil (Sao Paulo) in 1977. In 1985, with the creation of Formule 1, a radically new budget hotel concept, the Accor network comprised around 500 establishments. In 1990, the Motel 6 chain in the US was integrated, adding 550 new hotels and increasing the network to nearly 1,500 properties. In 1993, Accor set its sights on Asia and launched an assertive expansion program in the region. The network went over the 3,000-hotel mark in 1999, with the acquisition of the Red Roof Inn chain in the United States.

Today, six years later, the hotel base comprises 4,000 hotels (more than 466,000 rooms) in 92 countries and keeps growing: following the Novotel Madrid Sanchinarro, a new Ibis will be inaugurated in Bucarest (Romania) and a Suitehotel in Cannes (France). Thanks to its growth dynamic and rapid global expansion (with 67% of hotels now located outside France) Accor has become the hotel industry’s most international operator.

A key market in Accor’s expansion strategy, Spain saw nine new openings in 2004, with 20 more planned by 2006, half of them Ibis.

A new dynamic and faster expansion

Accor is committed to increasing its hotel portfolio by 25% over the next four years, to a total of 5000 hotels in 2009. This growth dynamic is being supported by an increase allocated to the Group’s expansion capital budget.

With 168,000 people in 140 countries, Accor is the European leader and one of the world's largest groups in travel, tourism and corporate services, with two major international activities:

  • hotels: over 4,000 hotels (over 466,000 rooms) in 92 countries, casinos, travel agencies, and restaurants;
  • services to corporate clients and public institutions: 19 million people in 34 countries use a broad range of services (food vouchers, people care and services, incentive, loyalty programs, events) engineered and managed by Accor.

Jacques Charbit
+33 (0)1 45 38 87 52
Accor