Following its announcement in August 2009 that it is to open two new Pullman hotels in Shanghai, Accor has announced that it will open two more upscale hotels in Wuxi and Tianjin, respectively.

Pullman Wuxi T-Park is scheduled to open in 2012, with 350 guestrooms including 64 executive floor rooms. Situated in the Wuxi New District in Jiangsu Province, the hotel is close to Government Hall and 15 minutes from the airport and the Shanghai to Beijing High Speed Train station. The future metro link station is located below the hotel. Facilities will include three restaurants, a lobby lounge, an indoor swimming pool, a fitness center, and a business centre. The hotel will also have a 1,200 square meter pillarless ballroom and nine meeting rooms.

Pullman Tianjin Kunlun will have 300 rooms, including 38 apartments, and will be located in the heart of Tianjin’s commercial area, a 30-minute drive from the airport. The hotel will offer three restaurants and comprehensive business and leisure facilities and is scheduled to open in mid 2013.

According to Michael Issenberg, the chairman and CEO of Accor Asia Pacific, the group did not anticipate the rate at which it would expand in Asia; however the tightening of credit markets and the slowing tourism arrivals has hotel owners and developers looking for contemporary hotel brands that appeal to the modern traveler, priced and distributed efficiently, and offering a high quality product without the clutter of more traditional five-star hotel brands. The Pullman brand fits this demand nicely, Issenberg concluded.

Earlier, two new Pullman hotels were announced in August 2009: Pullman Shanghai Pudong Zhangjiang and Pullman Shanghai South.

(China Hospitality News September 28, 2009)