Accor Hotel Group is to add the MGallery brand to its portfolio, initially launching with four “exceptional hotels” in Paris, Zurich, Lyon and Geneva.
The new collection officially launches next week, but Accor has already gone live with the brand’s website at mgallery.com. The four launch hotels are all rebranded Sofitel properties, and comprise the Hotel Baltimore Paris, Hotel Continental Zurich, Hotel Le Royal Lyon, and Hotel Rotary Geneva.
Interestingly MGallery’s logo is similar to that of Accor’s four-star Mercure brand. MGallery’s homepage describes the collection as “hotels that are remarkable in their personality”, which fits with Mercure’s philosophy of individual properties with “a cultural reflection of the city and the region”.
The MGallery collection is split into four categories: Design, Historic, Location and Vision. The 103-room Hotel Baltimore Paris falls under the Location category, being situated on Bis Avenue Kleber, close to the Champs Elysee. The hotel takes its name from Lord Baltimore, a guest of the former luxury hotel on the site during the 1920s.
The Vision category includes Hotel Continental Zurich, a four-star property situated on Stampfenbachstrasse close to the financial and shopping district, as well as the 74-room Hotel Le Royal Lyon located on Place Bellecour between the Saone and Rhone rivers, and Hotel Rotary Geneva on Rue du Cendrier close to the city’s lake.
The launch comes at a time of flux for Accor, with several Sofitel properties being rebranded under the group’s new Pullman collection (see online news December 12, 2007), and a new loyalty scheme due to be launched next month. Sofitel also opened its flagship Heathrow T5 hotel this month - click here for a full review of the property.
For more information visit mgallery.com, accorhotels.com.
Report by Mark Caswell
