HOSPITALITY group Accor has opened a new-look hotel in Bedford under the Mercure brand.
The former Park Inn hotel on St Mary’s Street by the river Great Ouse has been renamed Mercure Bedford Centre Hotel and is being extensively redesigned and fully refurbished.
Half of the bedrooms have already been transformed and the remaining bedrooms and public spaces will be complete by the end of this month.
The hotel is owned by Danish real estate group Proark and managed by Mercure.
Proark chairman Michael Brag said: “We have worked closely with Accor since signing this hotel and are extremely pleased with the ongoing work being done to redesign and refurbish it. The hotel has the Mercure service and features guests expect but it will also offer local touches specific to Bedford, which we are confident will be well received by business and leisure travellers alike.”
The hotel has 121 guest rooms and a 20-cover restaurant, bar and café area and lounge and meeting spaces. The largest meeting space is the County suite which can seat up to 450 people theatre or 340 people banqueting style.
Jean-Marc Vendioux, senior vice president managed hotels UKI, said: “Guests can already expect an incredibly high level of quality and personalised service, as they would receive in any Mercure, and this will be elevated by the look and feel of a hotel rooted in its local Bedford community once the refurbishment is complete later this year.”
