Novotel is a French midscale hotel brand owned by

Accor Accor S.A. is a French multinational hospitality company that owns, manages and franchises hotels, resorts and vacation properties. It is the largest hospitality company in Europe, and the sixth largest hospitality company worldwide. Accor ope ...

. Created in 1967 in France, the company grew into what became the Accor group in 1983, and Novotel remained a pillar brand of Accor's multi-brand strategy. Novotel manages 559 hotels in 65 countries (2021). Since 2010, Novotel also includes the

apartment hotel An apartment hotel or aparthotel (also residential hotel or extended-stay hotel) is a serviced apartment complex that uses a hotel-style booking system. It is similar to renting an apartment, but with no fixed contracts and occupants can "check ...

brand Novotel Suites.

History

From Novotel to Accor

The first Novotel was launched in

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

, France, in 1967. It was inspired by American motels with comfortable rooms, a restaurant and parking. By 1970, seven Novotel hotels were in operation, and the group raised the funds to develop internationally. By 1975, Novotel opened 60 hotels in France and 13 in Europe. Novotel bought

Mercure Mercure may refer to: * MERCURE, an atmospheric dispersion modelling CFD code developed by Électricité de France * Mercure Hotels, a chain of hotels run by Accor * French ship ''Mercure'' (1783) * Dassault Mercure, a French airliner built in t ...

in 1975, and

Sofitel Sofitel Hotels & Resorts is a French hotel chain of luxury hotels based in Paris, France, and owned by Accor since 1980. Founded in 1964 in France, Sofitel quickly developed worldwide to reach more than 200 properties. In 2008, Sofitel became a b ...

in 1980. In 1981, Novotel entered the Asian market with the opening of a hotel in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

. Novotel reached the top 10 of hotel groups worldwide with 319 hotels. It turned into the

group in 1983, and was introduced to the

Paris stock exchange Euronext Paris, formerly known as the Paris Bourse (), is a regulated securities trading venue in France. It is Europe's second largest stock exchange by market capitalization, behind the London Stock Exchange, as of December 2023. As of 2022, th ...

index the same year. Novotel survived as Accor's strong midscale brand alongside Mercure. In 1984, Novotel bought the New York

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and Neighborhoods in New York City, neighborhood in the Midtown Manhattan section of New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway (Manhattan), ...

building, a city where the company already operated the Roosevelt Hotel on Madison Avenue. In 1986, Novotel introduced full breakfast buffets. In 1995, Novotel launched an international competition to award the best chefs of its hotels, which became the ''Victoires internationales de la cuisine'' in 2001 and stretched its scope to ibis and Mercure chefs.

Since 2000s: Modernization

By the end of the 1990s,

ibis hotel Ibis (stylised as ibis) is a French brand of budget hotels owned by Accor. Created in 1974, Ibis became Accor's "economy megabrand" in 2011 with the rebranding of Ibis Styles and Ibis Budget from All Seasons and Etap Hôtel respectively. As of De ...

s took the leadership on cities' peripheries, leading Novotel to redefine a strategy towards city centers, and to launch a global refurbishment program based on design and modularity, bringing Novotel closer to Accor's upscale brand

. In 2004, Novotel introduced more ergonomic and elegant rooms (Novation) rooms. In 2008, Novotel introduced new organic bath products branded "N". In November 2011, Novotel and

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

prototyped a futuristic room showcased at the Paris

Vaugirard The 15th arrondissement of Paris () is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, it is referred to as ('the fifteenth'). The 15th arrondissement, called , is situated on the left bank of the River Seine. S ...

location and dubbed "Room 3120". In 2013, the

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of four main home video game console lines, as well as application software, applications (games), the streaming media, streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, and online services such as the Xbox networ ...

became available to customers, and successfully tested a virtual concierge (Monscierge) within its hotels. In 2014, Novotel introduced a multimedia table, PLAY, to provide digital guest services. In 2012, Novotel sold its New York

location in a €160m sale and management-back deal. In 2013, Novotel opened its 100th hotel in Asia Pacific. In 2016, Novotel opened its largest hotel worldwide, in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, and a new flagship hotel in London's

Canary Wharf Canary Wharf is a financial area of London, England, located in the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The Greater London Authority defines it as part of London's central business district, alongside Central London. Alongside ...

the following year. In 2017, the "N" rooms were launched, another step towards design customization. In July 2018, Novotel opened in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

its 500th hotel worldwide. In May 2019, Accor opened the Novotel Miami

Brickell Brickell ( ) is a neighborhood in Miami, Florida, historically referenced at times as "Southside" (being south of the Miami River), located directly east of Interstate 95, south of the Miami River (Florida), Miami River, and north of Coconut Gr ...

, the brand's second hotel in the USA.

Description

Novotel caters to business and leisure travelers, with hotels located in the heart of major international cities, business districts and tourist destinations. Novotel manages 559 hotels in 65 countries (2021).

Development

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Hotels established in 1967 French brands French companies established in 1967 Hospitality companies established in 1967 Hospitality companies of France Hospitality companies 1983 mergers and acquisitions