Accor Hotels has unveiled the upscale Majlis Grand Mercure sub-brand – designed to entice Middle Eastern investors – in the hope that it will reach its target for 20 Majlis-branded hotels and 100 hotels for the region by 2017.

Majlis Grand Mercure is a tailor-made Arabic-inspired hotel concept implemented by Accor’s Middle East managing director Christophe Landais, which Accor hopes will meet the needs of Middle Eastern consumers in addition to overseas visitors looking for local culture.

“We needed to create a specific brand for this region,” said Jean-Jacques Dessors, Accor Hotels Services Mediterranean, Middle East and Africa CEO. “Similarly, we developed a brand called Mei Jue Grand Mercure in China [in 2011]. This brand is very successful in answering to requirements of the region, owners and clients.”

Based on its experience in China, Accor has developed the Majlis brand around four key pillars: a sense of welcome, food, wellbeing plus culture and discovery.

“There will be a traditional welcome with Arabic coffee and dates to eat. The uniform will also be much more traditional,” said Landais in a statement.

The first hotel of the new brand, signed in January 2014, is now operating in Madinah – the Majlis Grand Mercure Al Harithia. “It’s definitely on the upscale five star level, but no brand could fit that hotel, so Majlis was really the perfect fit for that property,” added Landais.

Other locations targeted for the brand include Cairo, Madinah, Jeddah, Riyadh, Doha, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Makkah. Landais revealed that negotiations are already underway for the Doha hotel.

Middle East portfolio expansions

Accor Middle East, the regional unit of the European hotel group, plans an expanded portfolio of 100 hotels by 2017 which will cover the economy, midscale, upscale and luxury sectors with brands such as ibis Styles, Adagio, Novotel and Sofitel.

“We have already opened six hotels this year in the UAE and Saudi Arabia and we intend to open eight more by the end of 2014 – an average of more than one per month,” said Landais.