News for the Hospitality Executive |
CP Group Building a NZ$100 million Pullman Branded
Hotel in Auckland's Central Business District
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4 March 2008: Accor will introduce its new 5-star Pullman
brand to Auckland, following the announcement today that a Pullman hotel
will be developed out of the former New Zealand Reserve Bank in Customs
Street, in the heart of the central business district. The hotel is due
to open in the second quarter of 2010.
The NZ$100 million project is being developed by the New Zealand-based CP Group (named after its patriarch Charles Pandey), and will involve the conversion of the Reserve Bank building and the construction of an adjoining tower that will connect with the existing building. The hotel will have extensive conference facilities for up to 800 delegates as well as a major restaurant, rooftop swimming pool, gymnasium and day spa. The hotel enjoys a prime location on Customs Street, just a few streets from the waterfront and within easy walk of the city�s major business addresses. The hotel is also close to popular dining and and entertainment areas, including the waterfront Viaduct precinct, downtown shopping, ferry terminals and the Britomart rail and bus transit centre. Pullman Auckland will add to Accor�s current portfolio of Novotel, Mercure, Ibis, all seasons and Formule 1 hotels in the city. Accor currently operates 29 hotels and resorts in New Zealand. The launch of the Pullman hotel brand is part of Accor's drive to reposition its brands, which will in particular elevate Sofitel into the luxury segment. This strategy has created the opportunity to launch Pullman as a new brand of hotels clearly positioned in the upscale segment and targeting the corporate and conference/meeting markets. Conviviality, calm and connectivity Pullman hotels will provide specific services and facilities to create
an atmosphere that balances conviviality, calm and connectivity. These
will include a 24 hour IT solutions manager on site, there will also be
�Pullman Welcomers� who will not only be responsible for welcoming, but
also for immediate actioning of guest requests. There will be wireless
and broadband communications, chill out zones, executive floors and lounges,
health club facilities and the latest in hi-tech facilities for meetings
and function organisers. Fast communications and connectivity is
facilitated by the latest equipment with further enhancement likely as
a result of a partnership with Microsoft.
Pullman Auckland will have 290 large guest rooms, a first class day
spa, pool, gymnasium and a restaurant and bar. It will also feature extensive
meeting and conference facilities for up to 800 delegates.
The announcement of Pullman Auckland follows the global launch of the
brand in late 2007, which saw 12 Pullman hotels debut in Europe and Asia.
By the end of 2009, the Pullman network will consist of 59 hotels and over
15,600 rooms in 23 countries in Europe, the Middle East, South America
and Asia-Pacific, including a Pullman at Sydney Olympic Park, due to open
in the final quarter of 2008. In the medium to longer term, Accor�s ambition
is to develop a worldwide chain of 300 hotels by 2015, including 100 hotels
in Asia-Pacific. The aim is to grow the global network by 25 hotels a year.
�We have been looking for a suitable upscale project in Auckland to
complement our wide range of mid-scale and economy hotels in the city,
and this project offers an outstanding location that will prove popular
for business travellers, conference groups and leisure travellers,� said
Paul Richardson, Accor�s Vice President New Zealand and Fiji.
The Pullman name derives from the opulent Pullman railway carriages
that changed the face of overnight railway travel in America � and later
in the UK and Europe � from the 1860s. Accor has owned the Pullman brand
name since the early 1990s when it took over the Compagnie Internationale
des Wagons-Lits.
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Contact:
Amber Blair
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