"We write on the walls the strength of our dreams". The Accor Group's Handwritten Collection seems to have made Demis Roussos' words its own by affixing its logo in handwritten letters to the Accor Arena. On the occasion of the Taratata concert celebrating the 40th anniversary of the former POPB, the top-of-the-range brand unveiled a speakeasy-style bar at the heart of one of the largest and most famous concert halls in the world: the Somewhere Bar by Handwritten Collection. A place conceived as the living room of a spirits and cocktails enthusiast, where the guests and loyal customers of the ALL programme will be able to attend the concerts under privileged conditions.
Handwritten's pride of place at the Accor Arena symbolises both the progress made and the growth prospects for this brand, which was launched recently by the French group. Presented in January 2023It is part of in the tradition of these hotel collections aimed at attracting independent establishments with character into the fold of hotel groups. This positioning has already enabled it to offer around twenty hotels in France, Poland, Australia, China and Thailand.
" The pipeline is very good, because it's an easy brand to convert from independent hotels, which will benefit from the full strength of the Group while retaining their own identity.explains Antoine Dubois, Accor's Marketing, Customer Experience and Loyalty Director for Europe and North Africa. Our portfolio lacked a four-star collection brand, less luxurious than MGallery, focusing on hotels with 50 to 150 rooms, cosy cocoons well placed in city centres or popular holiday resorts." .
As part of its expansion, the Handwritten Collection celebrated a landmark opening shortly before the opening of the Olympic Games with its first address in Paris. Maison Hamelin, in the chic 16th arrondissement of Parise arrondissement, an elegant 65-room boutique hotel with a couture feel. The end of the summer season also saw the completion of another flagship project, the transformation of a former military stronghold, Fort Saint-Laurent, into a 36-room, four-star hotel on the slopes of the Croix-Rousse in Lyon.
At the same time, the top-of-the-range brand, which already had a presence in Annecy, Saint Gervais and Toulouse, welcomed new members in France with the Plaza Biarritz Plage hotel, housed in a historic Art Deco building, and the Castel Maintenon in the Paris region, between Chartres and the Rambouillet forest. Taken over by the Atypio group, this hotel, housed in the gardens of the château of Louis XIV's wife, has been renovated to become part of the Handwritten Collection and offers a setting for seminars in the great outdoors, with its 78 rooms and nine meeting rooms accommodating up to 200 people.
However, the spirit of this brand, in which each establishment reflects the passion of its host - fashion for the Maison Hamelin, Alsace for the Castel Maintenon, for example - will extend well beyond the borders of France with many more openings to come in Europe. Notably this month in Cyprus with the Classic Hotel Nicosia, ready to welcome business travellers passing through the Cypriot capital with its 54 rooms and its MICE area with four meeting rooms, the largest of which can accommodate 80 people.
Another European capital where the collection will take place is Tirana, where the Adorn Tirana is due to open this autumn. Located in the heart of the Albanian capital, it has 25 rooms, including six suites. Always in Eastern EuropeThe Handwritten collection is due to make its debut next year in Bucharest, Romania, with a 100-room hotel, the Tecadra Bucharest Hotel.
For business travellers, from November the brand will be offering a choice address in another major business metropolis, Düsseldorf, marking the arrival of Handwritten in Germany. The collection will welcome the MUZE Hotel, a 60-room establishment, to its ranks. focusing on design and contemporary art with an 18-strong creative boardroom.
For leisure guests, the brand will soon be offering a hotel in the heart of nature in the Netherlands, on the Zeeland coast, the Hotel Ter Zand. Looking further ahead - to 2026 - the Handwritten Collection expects to set up shop almost at the highest point of the Plat Pays, the Baraque de Fraiture in the Belgian Ardennes, with a 120-room hotel with a wellness and seminar positioning, the Maison Fraiture, currently under construction.
" Our latest openings across Europe demonstrate the success of Handwritten Collection" said Philippe Bijaoui, Managing Director Europe & North Africa for the development of Accor's Premium, Midscale & Economy division. With around 25 hotels in its development pipeline and more than 150 projects at various stages of discussion, Handwritten Collection seems to have made a name for itself in the hotel industry.
