Mercure (hotel)

Mercure

Industry	Hospitality
Headquarters	France
Services	Hotels and resorts
Parent	AccorHotels
Website	http://www.mercure.com

Mercure Château-Perrache in Lyon, France

Grand Mercure in Singapore

MGallery in B-Lay Tong Phuket, Thailand

Mercure is a brand of hotels run by French multinational corporation AccorHotels. The slogan is In Harmony with People and Places

Most Mercure hotels are positioned between Ibis and Novotel in the Accor estate. There is also a five star branch of Mercure hotels known as Grand Mercure with a chain of 10 Grand Mercure hotels in China under the Chinese brand name Mei Jue (美爵酒店 Měi Jué Jiǔdiàn).^[1] There are about 750 three to four-star Mercure hotels in Europe. In Australia and New Zealand, Grand Mercure Apartments is a growing 4.5 - 5 star short and long stay apartment brand.

History

Paul Dubrule and Gerard Pelisson founded Mercure in 1967. The first Mercure hotel was established in 1973 in Saint-Witz, France. Mercure Novotel was taken over in 1975 by Société d'Investissement et d'Exploitation, later the Accor Group.

In 1983, Mercure expanded into Germany. In 1993, Accor acquired a stake in the Hungarian Pannonia hotel chain with 24 hotels. The group also expanded into Poland, Asia, Turkey, and Africa. In 1994, hotels opened in the Caribbean, Guyana and Réunion. In 1995, Mercure established themselves in Spain, Sweden, Egypt, Oman, and Dubai, and opened a hotel in São Paulo, Brazil. In 1996, hotels opened in Berlin, Barcelona, Offenburg, Weimar, San Sebastián, Bari, Israel, Croatia, and Malta. In 1997, hotels opened in Estonia, Togo, Madagascar, Colombia, Egypt, Morocco, and Lebanon. In France, Accor acquired 33 Frantour hotels and rebranded them. The group also expanded the brand into the United Kingdom. In 1998, the ten hotels of the Dutch hotel chain Postiljon were acquired.

In 1999, 148 hotels were integrated into the network, including 42 Libertel hotels, 27 hotels in Germany and 27 in Australia. New hotels were opened in Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen. In 2014, Mercure hotel was opened in Latvia.

On February 19, 2015 The Grand Hotel, Mercure Leicester, held an official re-opening ceremony after the completion of an extensive renovation.^[2]

The Mercure Abu Dhabi Center Hotel recycles 30 percent of its approximately 1.9 tonnes of waste each month. Built in 1979 and renovated in 1997 the Mercure Abu Dhabi is one of the country’s oldest hotels. Since implementation of their recycling program the hotel’s water bills have plummeted by 25 percent and their electric bills are down by 10 percent.^[3]

Mercure announced the addition of three hotels to their brand in Recife, Brazil in February, 2015. With the expectation of opening by May 2015, the hotels will replace three from the Pontes Hotels & Resorts network. The new hotels will be the Mercure Recife Mar Hotels Conventions, the Grand Mercure Recife Atlante Plaza, and the Grand Mercure Summerville Resort.^[4]

MGallery

MGallery is a collection of 50 boutique hotels in 21 countries offering luxury architecture, interior design and services.^[5] Each MGallery hotel and resort has a strong focus on local culture and heritage, whether it is located in a city centre or a mountain or seaside resort.

On February 19 2015 Accorhotels announced the sale and management-back agreement for the Zurich MGallery hotel. The agreement was made with a private investor who is already an Accor franchiser. The value of the sale was €55 million or the equivalent of €355K per room. The total price included €32 million for the building as is, and a €23 million commitment to renovations.^[6]

References

External links

Media related to Mercure hotels at Wikimedia Commons

• Mercure website