The newly opened Mercure Hotel in Ostrava, North Moravia, is the French hotel group’s eighth hotel in the Czech Republic and its second to be established outside of Prague. Built in a restored national cultural site in the city center with the cooperation from the National Heritage Institute (NPÚ), the hotel has 139 rooms, conference and meeting facilities and a bar and restaurant.
Accor also outlined its plans for further growth in the country. Luc Gesvret, director of Accor in the Czech Republic, told Czech Position that the company’s next project is an Ibis hotel in Olomouc that is already underway and due to be completed in 2012. “I think Olomouc has a very promising potential, and it will fit quite nicely into the diagonal we have between Germany and Poland,” Gesvret said.
Gesvret added that Accor’s plans in the Czech Republic are even more extensive. “We are still looking at developing further, more to the north as well. We feel we need to have a proper balance between fully owned, managed and franchised [hotels], and we are more developing the managed and franchised hotels at the moment.”
Gesvret highlighted the significance of Ostrava as the country’s third-largest city in particular as an attraction for corporate clients. Tourism, both in Ostrava and the surrounding region, offers another potential draw for the hotel. The addition of a wellness center and what Gesvret described as a “touch of French elegance” will add a new note to a city long known as an industrial center.
