Accor begins construction of Novotel in Bucharest

French hotel chain Accor this year began construction of the Novotel Hotel located close to Telephone Palace – RomTelecom’s corporate headquarters – following a year of delays. The investment is worth 33 million euros, and the French company Bouygues was selected as constructor.

“The Novotel Hotel in Bucharest will open in 2006. It will have a four-star rating and will employ 180 people. The constructor is the French company Bouygues, as initially announced, and the investment will be 33 million euros,” said Andre Cantinaux, the representative of the French Accor chain.

The Novotel is the first direct investment by an international hotel chain in Romania, all other investments to date having been for management or franchises only.

Construction of the hotel was put on hold after digging on the site uncovered the foundations of the former Romanian National Theatre. Last year, the Ministry of Culture demanded modifications to the hotel design in order that the foundations of the former theatre building be preserved and put on public display.

The Novotel Hotel will be located on Bucharest’s Calea Victoriei. It will have 277 rooms, a 300-seat salon, eight conference rooms, a fitness centre with indoor swimming pool, and will include shops.

Accor owns more than 4,000 hotels worldwide and has a turnover of around 7bn euros. Other hotel brands in the Accor portfolio include Formule 1, Mercure, Etap and Suitehotel. Its international competitors are Marriott, Hyatt, Sheraton and Hilton, some of which already exist in Bucharest.

Another project to have suffered repeated delays is the Metropola Business Center, located in the former Radio House. The project that will include a five-star hotel was announced in 2002 and is worth 130 million euros, though works have yet to begin.

The Accor chain has been present in Bucharest for ten years through its Sofitel and Ibis hotels, which it manages under contract. Accor will take over the management of two more hotels this year located in Bucharest and Constanta, both of which are owned by Continental. georgiana.stavarache@zf.ro