Thanks in part to the acquisition of FRHI Hotels & Resorts, AccorHotels opened 230 new hotels and acquired 120 new locations last year—a rate of one new hotel opening every 36 hours. AccorHotels now has more than 4,100 hotels and 580,000 rooms in 95 countries worldwide.
Beyond the FRHI acquisition, which was finalized in July, AccorHotels also formed strategic partnerships with Banyan Tree and Rixos to boost its presence in the resort segment. The company also expanded its lifestyle division by announcing the new Jo&Joe brand and buying a stake in Germany's 25hours Hotels. At the beginning of 2016, AccorHotels finalized its alliance with China’s Huazhu Group. This partnership, announced in 2014, is set to accelerate AccorHotels’ brands in Asia with the opening of 350 to 400 GrandMercure, Novotel, Mercure, ibis and ibis Styles hotels in China, Taiwan and Mongolia over the next five years.
Looking to capture the Airbnb demographic, AccorHotels moved into the luxury home rentals market by acquiring onefinestay, Squarebreak and Travel Keys. It also integrated 26 Brazil Hospitality Group (BHG) hotels.
"In a single year, AccorHotels has opened 38,000 rooms across all segments and acquired 43,000 rooms, which represents a record for the Group," Gaurav Bhushan, Chief Development Officer of AccorHotels, said in a statement. "With more than 920 hotels and 172,000 rooms in the pipeline, our aim over the coming months is to consolidate our global presence as well as the leadership position secured by AccorHotels in the luxury, resort, lifestyle and private rental segments.
"We are also very proud to have announced some iconic hotels this year including the Fairmont Century Plaza Los Angeles (394 rooms and 63 private residences scheduled to open in 2018), the Sofitel Reforma in Mexico (290 rooms scheduled to open in early 2018), the So Kuala Lumpur (213 rooms), the Novotel Dubai Burj Khalifa (261 rooms), and the ibis Styles in Moscow (240 rooms)."