Marriott to open 22 AC Hotels in 2016

The brand will also hit 130 hotels by 2018 as Marriott accelerates its roll-out.

AC Hotels is part of Marriott’s growing International Luxury and Lifestyle portfolio and is a brand designed to cater to travellers with a “millennial mindset” who want a “design-led” hotel experience.

The planned expansion this year includes the first AC Hotels in the UK, which are to open in Birmingham and Manchester.

Other hotels are expected in Panama City, Rio de Janeiro, Marseille, Herzliya and Santiago, along with a number of US locations.

Some five AC Hotels are expected to open in January alone, with more to follow throughout the year.

The brand already includes 80 hotels, including the AC Hotel Miami Beach (pictured), which opened in summer 2015, and further growth plans include more than 50 hotels within the next three years in the US, Canada, Europe, and Latin America.

Tina Edmundson, Marriott International’s global officer for International Luxury and Lifestyle brands, said: “This rapidly growing portfolio of design-led hotels illustrates our commitment to making distinctive architecture and design affordable and accessible for creatives and entrepreneurs around the world. The hotels appeal to this large and growing demographic, with a robust development pipeline to match.”

Marriott said each hotel is designed to reflect the character of its urban surroundings, with a “modern European sensibility”.

Complimentary Wi-Fi will be offered to guests and locals, and each AC Hotel will have a library with a rotating selection of book titles. Open-design hotel lounges will offer locally crafted beers, specialty wines and expertly made cocktails, as well as a selection of tapas-style food.

The hotels reflect the vision of Antonio Catalan, who founded AC Hotels in 1998 in Spain.

Following its success in Europe, the brand formed a joint venture with Marriott International in 2011, which then launched AC Hotels by Marriott globally into France, Italy, Portugal, Denmark and the US.

Among the 22 AC Hotels expected to open – mainly as conversions - in 2016 are AC Guadalajara in Mexico, AC Marseille in France, AC Rio Barra de Tijuca in Brazil and AC Santiago in Chile.