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AccorHotels shareholders officially approved the purchase of Fairmont Raffles Hotels International (FRHI) at a general meeting on July 12, 2016, and the three hotels can now be booked directly through the Accor website. Similar to Marriott's purchase of Starwood, the loyalty programs remain separate at this stage with plans to integrate them in the future.
Why Accor Purchased Fairmont Raffles
Including hotels under development, FRHI brings 165 luxury hotels and nearly 55,000 rooms into the AccorHotels brand. Known primarily for its broad range of mid-range hotels, Accor hopes to leverage the three luxury brands to further its push into the U.S. market with iconic properties like The Plaza in New York and the Fairmont San Francisco now a part of the AccorHotels brand.
In an interview with Skift.
“This acquisition is a great accelerator of transformation for our group,” AccorHotels CEO Sebastien Bazin told Skift. “It positions AccorHotels as a key leading player in the luxury hotel market; diversifying our group and enhancing this area of our business is a key part of our strategic plan.”
Accor plans to roll Raffles, Fairmont, and Swissôtel together with the Sofitel and Pullman brands into a dedicated Luxury Brand group run by newly appointed CEO, Chris Cahill.
Book Fairmont, Raffles, and Swissôtel Through AccorHotels.com
You can now book all three hotel brands through the AccorHotels website. Both the Raffles and Fairmont brands have been placed at the top of the luxury brand list with the Sofitel and Pullman brands while Swissôtel joins the likes of The Sebel and Grande Mercure in the mid-range of Accor's offerings.
Can You Book Fairmont Raffles Through Le Club AccorHotels?
Unfortunately not yet. The three loyalty programs, Fairmont Gold, Raffles Ambassadors, and Swissôtel Circle will run independently of Le Club Accor during the integration of FRHI into Accor's business operations.
“Over the coming months, we will be working to leverage the AccorHotels platform to enhance FRHI members’ experience. This will include opportunities to discover AccorHotels extensive portfolio of more than 4,000 properties in 95 countries and access to the Le Club AccorHotels loyalty program, which was recently awarded with 5 Freddie Awards – the most prestigious member-generated awards in the travel loyalty industry.”
Final Thoughts
Finalizing the purchase of FRHI into the AccorHotels group is a huge stepping stone into the continental U.S., which is still the most influential luxury hotel market in the world. It will be interesting to see how the new brands settle into Le Club Accor and what benefits we'll see from Silver, Gold, and Platinum status.
We're also waiting to see if during the revamp of the loyalty program we will see some form of integration for the onefinestay stable of luxury properties. We wrote about the game-changing potential of Accor's onefinestay purchase on loyalty programs back in April and have been waiting patiently for word of whether it will be integrated into Le Club Accor in some way ever since.
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