Marriott to rebrand Latvian hotel as AC Hotel

Marriott International has added the AC Hotel Riga to its European development pipeline. The new hotel will open in 2019 following an extensive renovation and rebrand of the Albert Hotel. 

The upcoming AC Hotel Riga will have 239 guestrooms, a conference center, a lounge, a restaurant and a fitness center once the renovations are complete. Operator Legendhotels Latvija will take over operations the property in line with a 20-year franchise agreement with Marriott International.

The latest AC Hotel to open in Europe was in Germany in June 2017. The AC Hotel Mainz is not only the brand's first German property, but also Mainz's first boutique-style hotel. Dutch interior designer Helge Docters van Leeuwen led the design of the hotel during the renovation of the original building. The property is near the Mainz Central Station, the city's old-town district and the Rhine River.

The Riga and Mainz locations are the latest additions to the AC Hotels brand, which Spanish hotelier Antonio Catalan founded in 1998. The hotel group joined with Marriott through a joint venture in 2011, launching AC Hotels by Marriott in France, Italy, Portugal, Denmark and the U.S. The brand's current portfolio totals more than 100 hotels in 10 countries and territories. 

Other recent openings include NewcrestImage's AC Hotel by Marriott Oklahoma City Bricktown on Dec. 28, 2017. The hotel marked the first property developed using modular construction for both the company and the city. The companies used traditional construction for the ground floor of the 142-room hotel while they used 81 modules to build the other four levels. 

The AC Hotel Chapel Hill Downtown opened on Dec. 19, 2017 as the first branded modular construction project on the East Coast. The four-story property operated by OTO Development has 123 guestrooms next to the town's social district and the University of North Carolina. 

AC Hotel Spartanburg in South Carolina opened just a day before the Chapel Hill location. The Johnson Management owns the 144-room property while its subsidiary OTO Development also operates the new AC Hotel.