Hotel franchise operator Action Hotels announced the opening of its 14th hotel, the 347-room Novotel in Melbourne, Australia ahead of schedule with advance bookings pegged at over A$3.5m.
The Novotel Melbourne South Wharf hotel is built on a long term, 92-year lease plot of land, situated in the city's newly redeveloped conference and exhibition centre, held by Action Hotels and operated under AccorHotels' 4-star Novotel brand.

Sheikh Mubarak Al Sabah, founder and chairman of Action Hotels, said: "We are proud to add this hotel and this opening marks a key milestone in our relationship with AccorHotels."

As well as the Novotel brand, Accor Hospitality also operates many IBIS, IBIS Budget, IBIS Styles and Mercure hotel brands in locations around the world.

Simon McGrath, chief operating officer of AccorHotels Pacific, said: "With its location alongside Melbourne's Conference & Exhibition Centre, the hotel will help attract major events, conferences and exhibitions to the city and will support the city's strong events calendar and tourism industry."

The opening of the Melbourne South Wharf hotel follows Action's successful openings of hotels in Sohar Oman, Brisbane Australia and Bahrain which have all shown strong starts to trading according to the company.

As of 0825 GMT, Action Hotels' shares were up 6.94% at 19.25p.

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