Article from BTNews 11 JULY 2016
AC Hotels expansion
Marriott's lifestyle brand, AC Hotels by Marriott, has outlined plans for 30 new hotels in the next three years with a focus on the US, Caribbean and Latin America.
Vice president Dan Vinh said most of the hotels would be new-builds while others would be renovations and rebrands of existing properties.
The group was formed when Spanish AC Hotels signed a joint venture with Marriott International in 2011.
AC promotes itself as having "a distinctly European style" with an emphasis on "celebrating classic modern design inspired by the urban locale and the brand's Spanish roots".
The brand expanded its presence beyond Spain into France, Turkey, Italy, Portugal, Denmark and the US following the tie-up with Marriott. Hotels are mainly in urban locations and aimed primarily at business travellers.
The latest openings include two hotels in Rio de Janeiro, Porto Maravilha and Barra de Tijuca, in time for the Olympics, with openings in Panama City, Atlanta, Boston, San Jose and Santiago scheduled later this year.
A 159-room AC hotel opened in Phoenix, Arizona, last month at the Tempe Town Lake development. The brand opened its first US location in November 2014 in the Cotton Exchange Building in New Orleans.
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