Following its Sicilian debut, Accor's Movenpick will open the Palace Hotel in Bari (Apulia).
The property will be branded by Accor
The development of the Movenpick brand in Italy continues. After the announcement of the Mondello Palace Hotel in Palermo, which is expected to debut in the third quarter of this year, the rebranding of the Palace Hotel in Bari has also been announced. The property has been closed since January 2022, but a couple of months ago the Greenblu Group signed a 20-year lease agreement with the owners the Di Cagno Abbrescia family's Saiga company. The rent, the Italian daily La Repubblica reveals, should be around €1.5 million per year. Greenblu, however, has also committed to upgrading the building, for a total investment of some €7 million, to be deducted from the rent. Greenblu then entered into a franchise agreement with the Accor group brand.
Expanding the square footage of the rooms
The plan is to reduce the number of rooms from the original 198 to 180 thus expanding the square footage, with the aim of both improving the quality of the space and approaching families as well as congress and international tourism. The eighth floor of the building will be reserved for suites and the spa, while a bistro serving local and international cuisine will be created on the ground floor. Work is expected to start by the end of this month, with the hotel scheduled to reopen in 2025 as a four-star hotel. Greenblu is also acting as a white label company of an Accor brand for the Mercure President in Lecce.
