Nelson's Monaco Hotel & Resort Joins Accor Network

1 July 2008

Nelson's Monaco Hotel & Resort Joins Accor Network

Accor is pleased to announce a new addition to its network today - Grand Mercure Nelson Monaco Apartments, a unique resort village in sunny Nelson.

The 4+ star hotel and resort village provides unique hotel style accommodation and self contained cottages set amongst picturesque gardens. It officially joins the Accor group of hotels and resorts today as a franchise property and has been rebranded from Monaco Hotel & Resort to Grand Mercure Nelson Monaco Apartments, in keeping with Accor's upscale boutique Grand Mercure brand.

Located just minutes away from Nelson's airport and the city centre, Monaco boasts views stretching across the Waimea Inlet to the mountains of Kahurangi National Park. With easy access by air and road, the resort is an ideal base to explore sunny Nelson's culture and art, scenic wilderness and world-famous vineyards.

With the growth in numbers of both domestic and international visitors to Nelson set to continue, Monaco's current expansion is timely. Eighteen one bedroom studios have been completed and just 18 more remain to be finished, which will increase the resort's capacity to accommodate up to 280 guests. Including the completion of conference facilities catering for up to 180 people, the last phase of the expansion is due for completion by the end of October. The final accommodation configuration will be 20 hotel rooms, 36 one-bedroom studios, six one-bedroom cottages and 33 two-bedroom cottages.

The resort features award-winning restaurant The Orangerie, an onsite health and beauty spa, swimming pool, gymnasium and the conference and events centre. Guests will also soon be able to visit an onsite hairdressing salon and the workshop of a master jeweler and goldsmith, due to open in the coming months.

The buildings have been painstakingly created to capture the integrity of village life, using timber salvaged from the Nelson Wharf and overlooking finely manicured gardens and a quaint village green. With its stunning setting and excellent facilities, Monaco is also a superb location for weddings and other special occasions. Visit www.monacoresort.co.nz or www.accorhotels.co.nz .

ACCOR TARGETS FRANCHISES FOR NEW ZEALAND GROWTH

With some 60% of hotels in New Zealand and Australia unbranded, Accor sees franchising as a key sector for growing its network.

"Branding is the key," says Accor's Vice President for New Zealand and Fiji, Paul Richardson. "Accor has invested significantly in upgrading its brands in recent years, and with Accor branding comes a guarantee of quality, which can really cut through to the consumer in what is a very crowded marketplace.

"Monaco is such a unique product and thus is a perfect fit with our Grand Mercure brand, which emphasises individuality and expresses the spirit of its location."

Grand Mercure franchised hotels are located throughout Australia and New Zealand. Accor also franchises its Mercure and All Seasons brands. Accor now has a network of almost 50 franchised hotels in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific.

Accor, the European leader and a major global group in hotels, the global leader in services to corporate clients and public institutions, operates in nearly 100 countries with 170,000 employees. It offers to its clients over 40 years of expertise in its two core businesses:

- Hotels, with the Sofitel, Pullman, Novotel, Mercure, Suitehotel, Ibis, all seasons, Etap Hotel, Formule 1 and Motel 6 brands, representing more than 4,000 hotels and nearly 500,000 rooms in 90 countries, as well as strategically related activities, such as Lenôtre.

- Services, with 30 million people in 40 countries benefiting from Accor Services products in human resources, marketing services and expense management.

ENDS

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