Paris-based hospitality group Accor recently shared updates on its growth in North and Central America, a key region for the group’s global development strategy.
Accor’s North and Central America portfolio has increased 34 percent over the past two years, with another 23 hotels and 4,400 rooms currently in the pipeline, including notable luxury projects Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles, Sofitel Mexico City Reforma and Raffles Boston Back Bay Hotel & Residences.
"This is an exciting time for development in the North and Central America region and our pipeline offers a glimpse into Accor’s larger growth strategy worldwide," Greg Doman, SVP of development, Accor North and Central America, said in a statement. "We’re seeing a strong focus on the expansion of luxury and lifestyle brands while continuing to grow our established midscale and economy brands in some of the region’s top destinations and gateway cities."
Acquisitions Drive Growth
In 2018, Accor acquired an 85 percent stake in 21c Museum Hotels. In March of this year, 21c Museum Hotels officially joined the MGallery Hotel Collection, marking the North American debut for MGallery, a collection that represents more than 100 boutique hotels located in 27 countries.
In addition to 21c’s eight properties, the brand currently has projects under development in Chicago (slated for opening in late 2019) and Des Moines, Iowa. 21c Museum Hotels also will be the brand and management company for a combination boutique hotel, contemporary art museum and independently branded restaurant anticipated to open in the restored YMCA building in downtown St. Louis in late 2020.
Accor acquired a 50 percent stake in luxury lifestyle operator SBE late last year, bringing the operator's hotel, restaurant and entertainment brands—including SLS, Delano, Mondrian, Hyde, Katsuya and Umami Burger—into the Accor portfolio. The SBE brands are poised for major regional and global expansion, with 17 properties currently under development.
Most recently, Accor and SBE announced the launch of The House of Originals, a luxury collection of properties that includes the Shore Club in Miami Beach and a new $72 million development, Temple Detroit. Slated to open in June 2020 in Detroit’s Cass Corridor, Temple Detroit will have 100 hotel rooms and 70 residential units in addition to an SBE restaurant.
Following Accor’s 2018 acquisition of Atton Hotels, the group announced in May that the Atton Brickell Miami was rebranded as the Novotel Miami Brickell. Novotel Miami Brickell is the second Novotel in the U.S. and the brand’s 11th property in North and Central America.
In Development
Accor has 23 projects in the pipeline for North and Central America slated to open by 2023, including the entry of four brands into new markets within the region.
“We are enthused to expand brands that have long had a presence in this region, such as Fairmont, with the recent opening of Fairmont Austin [in Texas] and new projects Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles and Fairmont Costa Canuva in Mexico,” said Doman. “We will also introduce Raffles and SO/, brands that are new to North and Central America and will offer travelers two distinct types of luxury travel never before offered in this market.”
Following the opening of the Fairmont Austin in 2018 as the largest Fairmont in the United States and third largest in the world, Fairmont is restoring another property with the redevelopment of Los Angeles’ historic Century Plaza Hotel. The Fairmont Century Plaza is set to open in early 2020 following a $2.5 billion redevelopment that will result in approximately 394 guestrooms and 63 private residences, alongside two new 46-story residential towers.
The brand also is adding the Fairmont Costa Canuva, a new development with 250 rooms and private residences along the Riviera Nayarit in Mexico, slated to open in 2022.
The first Sofitel in Mexico will open in Mexico City in September, more than a decade after the last opening of a luxury hotel in the capital city. The Sofitel Mexico City Reforma will have 275 rooms as well as a rooftop lounge.
Accor also will bring its SO/ brand to the region. One of the fastest-growing brands in Accor’s luxury lifestyle portfolio, SO/ will debut in North America with the SO/ Los Cabos Hotel & Residences in the Baja California Peninsula in 2022. The property will have 180 guestrooms and 36 residences.
The first and only Raffles property on the North American continent will debut in 2021 with the opening of Raffles Boston Back Bay Hotel & Residences. The mixed-use development will include 147 guestrooms and 146 private residences in a new-build 33-story building in Boston’s historic Back Bay neighborhood.
Novotel will expand its presence in Mexico City with the opening of Novotel Mexico City Fórum in 2020 and Novotel Mexico City Insurgentes in 2021, the second and third Novotel properties in Mexico City, and third and fourth for the brand across the country. The new Novotel properties are a part of a larger expansion story for Accor in Mexico, joining a growing group of more than 25 Accor hotels countrywide.
The Ibis brand is growing in Mexico with the opening of Ibis Styles Mérida, Ibis Mazatlán and Ibis Tlalnepantla in 2018, and the spring and summer 2019 openings of Ibis Torreón, Ibis Budget Aquascalientes and Ibis Tijuana. Additional projects in development include Ibis Budget Delicias and Ibis Budget Mexico City Eje Central scheduled to open in 2020.