AccorHotels Group plans to bring German-based 25hours Hotel brand into India. The new hotel developments will be part of the brand's plans to expand into non-German-speaking markets.
The first 25hours hotel in India is expected to open in Mumbai, according to Jean-Michel Casse, COO, India and South Asia, AccorHotels. Meanwhile, the brand's first hotel project in its expansion outside of Germany will open in Paris this year.
AccorHotels also plans to bring other new brands to India, including Singapore-based brand Banyan Tree. Some reports have suggested that AccorHotels has already agreed to open a new Raffles hotel in Udaipur, but Casse says he can't confirm those reports until the agreement is signed.
The new hotels will join AccorHotels's portfolio of 52 existing properties in India. These operate under the Sofitel, Pullman, Mercure, Grand Mercure, Novotel, Ibis, Swissotel and Fairmont brands across the country.
Construction on a 25hours hotel in Dubai began in early February. AccorHotels chose the UAE's ASGC as the main contractor for the 25hours One Central hotel project. The new hotel will have 434 guestrooms in Dubai World Trade Centre's One Central mixed-use development. The hotel, slated to open by 2020, will reportedly be the brand's largest in the world.
In November, the 25hours Hotel The Royal Bavarian opened in the center of Munich. Local firm OSA Ochs Schmidhuber Architekten led the recreation of the former Main Post Office and Royal Central Telegraph Station building (originally constructed in 1869) into the new 165-room hotel. Augsburg-based firm Dreimeta handled the interior design.
AccorHotels acquired a 30-percent stake in the 25hours Hotel brand in 2016. At the time, the group set plans to open five hotels under the flag in Zurich, Munich, Cologne, Düsseldorf and Paris by this year.