French hotel operator AccorHotels has signed three management agreements with Al Rajhi Investment Group for a trio-cluster of hotel properties in Al Naseem, a mega complex by Al Rajhi in the Holy City of Makkah.
The Al Naseem project is being built around Al Rajhi Mosque, the second largest in Makkah after the Grand Mosque, and will feature six hotels from four international hotel groups offering close to 5,000 rooms in total.
The AccorHotels cluster comprising Novotel, Adagio and ibis Styles properties will constitute three of the six hotels at Al Naseem, and with 2354 rooms, will account for nearly half of the keys that will be offered at the complex.
The hotels are expected to be completed in 2019, the company said in a statement.Jean-Jacques Dessors, chief operating officer of AccorHotels Mediterranean, Middle East & Africa, said: “We are delighted to be joining forces with Al Rajhi for this monumental development which will create a diverse hospitality offering for the 20 million visitors to Makkah every year.”
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The Al Naseem development site is on the third ring road of Makkah, offering strategic access to Masjid al-Haram, six kilometers away. Guests at the 480-key Novotel, 434-key Adagio and 1,440-key ibis Styles will also have direct access to Al Rajhi Mosque, which is located within the Al Naseem complex together with a shopping mall.
Novotel is a midscale brand within the AccorHotels portfolio, while ibis Styles, is an economy brand. Adagio is AccorHotels’ main aparthotel brand in the market for medium to long-term stays.
“Our ambitions for AccorHotels in Saudi Arabia as a whole are extremely high; we are carrying out an important expansion strategy, aiming to more than triple the number of our operational hotels across the Kingdom from 15 existing properties to reach 50 within the next five years,” Dessors said.
AccorHotels has 15 properties in operation. In the pipeline, the group currently has 32 properties under development across Saudi Arabia, bringing an additional 9,000 rooms and raising AccorHotels’ portfolio closer to its target of 50 hotels in the kingdom.
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