THE French hotel group, Accor - which owns several budget Formula One hotels in the country - has expanded its portfolio by buying a 74% stake in three Best Western Premier Lodge Hotels in Gauteng and Mpumalanga. The group's new operations manager, Phillippe Beaudoin, says the hotels, Best Western Premier Lodge Midrand, Bedfordview and Nelspruit will now be branded as Mercure Hotels, a division of Accor. (Miguel de Sousa)
