Karachi, 8 January 2007 – Mercure Grand Hotel Karachi Airport will open on April 1st 2007 and will bring an attractive European addition to the Karachi Airport district. The hotel will be located in the Civil Aviation Security Zone, a short 5 minutes away from the Jinnah International Airport Terminal.
The hotel will begin commercial operations in two phases. Phase I opening on April 1 2007 will consist of 120 rooms and 2 suites, with an all day dining restaurant, coffee shop, swimming pool with pool bar. Phase II will open shortly afterwards and will consist of an additional 55 superior rooms, all on ground level with balconies and direct garden access, multiple seminar and convention facilities as well as a complete fitness centre.
Guests will experience a feeling of tranquility, spaciousness and relaxation due to the extensive gardens, recreational amenities, and the general layout of the attractively landscaped property. The renovation is both attractive and contemporary with direct assistance from globally recognized companies such as W&A international. The hotel will offer guests a one of a kind leisure experience in the Karachi area.
The Mercure Grand Hotel Karachi Airport project is a complete and total refurbishment of an existing facility on 10 acres of land. The hotel is owned by United International Group (UIG) Private Limited, with Mr. Muhammed Akhtar Qureshi as the C.E.O. The project has a substantial minority interest from the JS Group. JS Group is the largest financial conglomerate in the country with increasing stake in the hospitality sector. Upon opening, the Mercure Grand Hotel Karachi Airport will be the only international standard hotel in the Northern Karachi and Airport area. Accor Middle East already has an advance team in place and is actively seeking permanent staff for the hotel.
Christophe Landais, the Managing Director of Accor Middle East mentioned in his presentation that “Accor Middle East is delighted to have been chosen to manage this attractive and dynamic project which will provide at least some much sought after relief to the significant hotel room demand situation in Karachi. Accor Middle East is wholly committed to the Pakistani market and we intend to significantly grow our portfolio of hotels in this dynamic country. ”
Grand Mercure is one of several fast growing Accor brands in the Middle East Region along with Sofitel, Novotel, Mercure, and Ibis. The addition of the Mercure Grand Hotel Karachi Airport will create a total of 5 Grand Mercure hotels in the Middle East zone (comprising the entire Arabian Peninsula including the Levant countries as well as Iran and Pakistan). The hotel will join a global network of over 700 Mercure hotels in 49 countries and will add to Accor’s existing portfolio of 20 hotels in the Middle East.
In addition to the Mercure Grand Hotel Karachi Airport, the Sofitel Karachi in Clifton is another Accor hotel shortly to begin construction with an opening planned in late 2009. Accor is one of the most significant hotel management companies with regards to expansion and development in the region with over 30 hotels currently under construction in the Middle East area. Within 3 years Accor Middle East anticipates having approximately 70 hotels under management contract in the Middle East.
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- Hotels, with the Sofitel, Novotel, Mercure, Suitehotel, Ibis, Etap Hotel, Formule 1, Motel 6 and Red Roof Inn brands, representing more than 4,000 hotels and 475,000 rooms in 90 countries, as well as strategically related activities, notably Lenotre.
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