France prepares for Olympic hotel rush

Pictured: 1 Hotel Aurore T5B Paris. Imagery by Luxigon.

France is gearing up to welcome a panoply of sports fans as part of its summer Olympics host country status in 2024.

Many global hoteliers are descending on the country to capitalise on the demand generated by this blue riband event.

Country-wide requirement

As official host city, Paris and its environs will run 27 sports, while Versailles will be the venue for the equestrian events, modern pentathlon, golf and outdoor cycling. Outlying sports will be held at a further nine towns or cities across the country: Lille, Marseille, Lyon, Bordeaux, Saint-Étienne, Nice, Nantes, Vaires-sur-Marne and Châteauroux.

The need to house the national and international crowd for these events is one of the key prompts for at least 96 high end French hotel developments, equating to 15,623 rooms, which are recorded in the TOPHOTELPROJECTS database.

Hosting hotspots

Olympic city Paris leads the way for the luxury and upscale pipeline, with 27 projects underway. Fellow host area Nice is second in the standings with nine developments, while Roissy-en-France, on the edge of the capital city’s northern suburbs, comes third with seven hotels.

Other games venues with developments in progress include Bordeaux with three, Marseille and Lyon with two each and Lille with one.

Quick peak

In terms of hotel segment breakdown, 37 of the listed projects have five star luxury status, with the remaining 59 developments being upscale four star properties.

Hoteliers are hurrying to make sure their sites come online before the games, with the pipeline peaking by the end of this year, totalling 28 completions. A further 25 will be delivered next year, while 21 are cutting it fine to open in the Olympic year itself, 2024. The remaining 22 projects in the database are either yet to be scheduled or are delivering in 2025 or beyond.

Major hotel groups paying particular attention to France are led by IHG Hotels & Resorts, with 11 developments across brands including voco, Holiday Inn and InterContinental. Accor also has 11, via marques including Tribe, So/ and Mondrian. Closely behind, nine Hilton Worldwide group hotels are also in the offing.

Leading developments

Notable projects include the 140-room 1 Hotel Aurore T5B Paris which will arrive in Q2 2023. The eco-luxury hotel will be located in a 12,700 sq m development including a sports facility and business centre. The complex will also feature a 179-bed Slo Living youth hostel, the Chez Fellini cabaret performance bar, a panoramic restaurant and the Nuage Café co-working space for startups and travelling professionals.

Plus Maison Albar Hotel Le Victoria will swiftly follow in Q4 2023. A total renovation of the ex-Boscolo B4 Park Hotel will result in a 132-key extended stay aparthotel. Amenities will include a rooftop pool, bar and restaurant with 360° views, 600 sq m spa and a fitness area.

Many TOPHOTELNEWS articles draw on exclusive information from the TOPHOTELPROJECTS construction database. This subscription-based product includes details of thousands of hotel projects around the world, along with the key decision-makers behind them. Please note, our data may differ from records held by other organisations. Generally, the database focuses on four- and five-star schemes of significant scale; tracks projects in either the vision, pre-planning, planning, under-construction, pre-opening or newly opened phase; and covers newbuilds, extensions, refurbishments and conversions.

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