Accor, the French hotel chain and Hilton Hotels Corporation (HHC) are going head to head in a battle to win 24 former Macdonald Hotels’s contracts.

The hotels, acquired this month by Moorfield Real Estate Funds for an estimated £400m, would either be converted to Accor’s Mercure brand or become HHC’s first full-service Double Tree-branded properties in Europe, The Times reports today.

Macdonald hotels will continue to run the hotels on an interim basis pending the outcome of the bidding process for the long-term contract which pits Macdonald against “two international hotel companies”.

The mainly four-star hotels include the Last Drop village in Bolton, Ardoe House in Aberdeen, the Shakespeare in Stratford-upon-Avon and two Holland House hotels, in Cardiff and Bristol.

In a separate move, property firm Land Securities looks set to complete a £439m deal to buy 30 UK Accor properties. The Ibis and Novotel-branded hotels would be leased back to Accor on 84-years leases. 

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By Emily Manson

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