Accor plans expansion of Novotel network

* A 440 Room Novotel hotel to be developed in Mumbai with India Blue Mountains

(New Delhi, January 30, 2008) "� Accor today announced the development of a 440-room Novotel hotel in Mumbai, due to open in 2010. The hotel is being developed in a joint venture with India Blue Mountains, a hotel-specific development company focused on India.

The hotel will be located on the prominent Andheri-Kurla Road artery, in close proximity to the international and domestic airports as well as to the current and emerging business districts of Mumbai. Positioned internationally as 4-star hotels, the Novotel brand falls under the 'upper business class' hotel segment in India. This Novotel will feature approximately 440 rooms, two restaurants, a health club, and significant meeting and banquet facilities. The Novotel boasts international standards of operation, which will offer business travelers to Mumbai an attractive value proposition relative to the current pricing of upscale hotels in Mumbai.

The Novotel in Mumbai joins a growing network of Novotel hotels being developed by Accor across India, adding up to 12 hotels with over 3000 rooms. Accor has been operating a Novotel in Hyderabad, located adjacent to the Hyderabad International Convention Centre since 2006. The convention centre is also managed by Accor. Other prominent Novotel hotels currently under development in India are in Gurgaon, New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Lavasa, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata.

In a statement issued during his visit to New Delhi, Gilles Pelisson, Chief Executive Officer, Accor SA, said, "Novotel is a prominent hotel brand across the world with very high recall and we are delighted at the rapid development of our Novotel network in India, which now covers all major cities across India. Together with the aggressive expansion of our Ibis and Formule 1 hotel networks in India, we expect to be one of the most significant hotel operators in India with over 40 hotels open by 2010."

In addition, Accor and India Blue Mountains are working on several other projects including further Novotel Hotels in Chennai (325 rooms) and Pune (315 rooms) where the construction will commence later this year.

Janak Vaswani, the Managing Director of India Blue Mountains, stated "India Blue Mountains in the last 6 months has 5 hotel developments underway, all of which will be managed by Accor. India Blue Mountains has a very aggressive strategy and intends to be the premier platform of choice for hotel operators in India. We are extremely pleased with our close relationship with Accor and look forward to developing many future projects alongside them."

About Accor

Accor, the European leader and a major global group in hotels, the global leader in services to corporate clients and public institutions, operates in nearly 100 countries with 170,000 employees. It offers to its clients over 40 years of expertise in its two core businesses: -Hotels, with the Sofitel, Pullman, Novotel, Mercure, Suitehotel, Ibis, All Seasons, Etap Hotel, Formule 1 and Motel 6 brands, representing more than 4,000 hotels and nearly 500,000 rooms in 90 countries, as well as strategically related activities, such as Lenôtre Services, with 23 million people in nearly 40 countries benefiting from Accor Services products in human resources, marketing services and expense management.