Accor has announced that it is expanding the Mercure brand with five new openings committed for Asia, of which two will be in Beijing.

Mercure Beijing Downtown will be a new 357-room hotel (including 97 apartments) situated near the center of Beijing's central business district south of Chang'an and Jianguo Avenue. Facilities will include two restaurants, a fitness center, business center, three meeting rooms, a ballroom, and an indoor swimming pool. The hotel is scheduled to open in mid-2010.

Grand Mercure HNA Beijing Central will offer 472 guestrooms in a mixed use development which includes a shopping mall and offices, in the heart of Beijing. The hotel is located in Chongwen and is two blocks away from the railway station and less than 10 minutes from Tiananmen Square, the Palace Museum, and the National Theatre. The hotel will offer a combination of studio accommodation and one, two and three bedroom apartments.

The other three Mercure hotels — which will open in India, South Korea, and Thailand — join Mercure Hanoi La Gare and Mercure Hue Gerbera in Vietnam, and Mercure Pontianak in Indonesia: all three of which are slated to open in September, 2009.

(China Hospitality News September 23, 2009)