From Novotel to Accor

The first Novotel was launched in Lille, France, in 1967. It was inspired by American motels with comfortable rooms, a restaurant and parking. By 1970, seven Novotel hotels were in operation,^[3][4] and the group raised the funds to develop internationally.^[5]

By 1975, Novotel opened 60 hotels in France and 13 in Europe.^[5] Novotel bought Mercure in 1975, and Sofitel in 1980. In 1981, Novotel entered the Asian market with the opening of a hotel in Singapore.^[6]

Novotel reached the top 10 of hotel groups worldwide with 319 hotels.^[7] It turned into the Accor group in 1983, and was introduced to the Paris stock exchange index the same year. Novotel survived as Accor's strong midscale brand alongside Mercure.^[3] In 1984, Novotel bought the New York Times Square building,^[8] a city where the company already operated the Roosevelt Hotel on Madison Avenue.^[9]

In 1986, Novotel introduced full breakfast buffets.^[10] In 1995, Novotel launched an international competition to award the best chefs of its hotels,^[11] which became the Victoires internationales de la cuisine in 2001 and stretched its scope to ibis and Mercure chefs.^[12]

Since 2000s: Modernization

By the end of the 1990s, ibis hotels took the leadership on cities' peripheries, leading Novotel to redefine a strategy towards city centers,^[13] and to launch a global refurbishment program based on design and modularity, bringing Novotel closer to Accor's upscale brand Sofitel.^[10] In 2004, Novotel introduced more ergonomic and elegant rooms (Novation) rooms.^[14] In 2008, Novotel introduced new organic bath products branded "N".^[15]

In November 2011, Novotel and Microsoft prototyped a futuristic room showcased at the Paris Vaugirard location and dubbed "Room 3120".^[16] In 2013, the Xbox became available to customers,^[17] and successfully tested a virtual concierge (Monscierge) within its hotels.^[18] In 2014, Novotel introduced a multimedia table, PLAY, to provide digital guest services.^[19]

In 2012, Novotel sold its New York Times Square location in a €160m sale and management-back deal.^[8] In 2013, Novotel opened its 100th hotel in Asia Pacific.^[20] In 2016, Novotel opened its largest hotel worldwide, in Madrid,^[21] and a new flagship hotel in London's Canary Wharf the following year.^[22] In 2017, the "N" rooms were launched, another step towards design customization.^[23] In July 2018, Novotel opened in Seoul its 500th hotel worldwide.^[24] In May 2019, Accor opened the Novotel Miami Brickell, the brand's second hotel in the USA.^[25]