Sydney Marriott to become Pullman tonight.
Accor has just announced the settlement of its purchase of the Mirvac hotel portfolio, with the first phase of integration seeing the Sydney Marriott Hotel rebranded as the Pullman Sydney Hyde Park from tomorrow.
The deal adds 43 properties in Australia and New Zealand to the Accor Asia Pacific portfolio, and while the majority of the Mirvac properties will remain under their existing brands, “in the short term a major priority for the integration will be to re-brand a number of the hotels under Accor’s upscale Pullman brand,” the company said.
The Sydney Marriott – previously managed by Mirvac – will also receive a $7 million refurbishment “to align the hotel to Pullman’s five-star standards” with the work to include renovating all remaining rooms as well as significant upgrades to public areas.
Accor Asia Pacific chief operating officer Michael Issenberg said the deal would “fundamentally reshape the hotel industry in Australia and New Zealand.
“We have seen many of the original overseas players in the hotel sector retreat from this region in recent years,while Accor has aggressively grown its network through management and franchise contracts and strategic acquisition deals such as the purchase of Mirvac’s hotels,” he said.
Issenberg said Accor would add significantly to the competitiveness of the Mirvac properties once they’re fully integrated into the Accor network, with benefits coming from Accor’s global distribution platform, strong branding, “our pre-eminent position in the rapidlly expanding Asian markets and the support of the region’s most experienced and professional workforce”.
The majority of Mirvac employees wil transfer to Accor and will play a major role in the combined group’s future business, Issenberg added.
More information in tomorow’s Travel Daily