Hilton HHonors - Hilton Paris Suffren to become a Accor Pullman hotel (source: Les Echos)

Desiring to build a portfolio hotels in France, Jesta Capital group, already owner of the Sofitel in Cannes (ex-Hilton), is preparing to buy the Hilton Suffren in Paris. The hotel will become a Pullman, member of Accor group .

(...)

Jesta has a promise to buy the hotel located Avenue de Suffren for 150 million euros. The operation is likely to occur by December 30.

(...)

The hotel, which requires a renovation, will be managed on 1 January by Accor, which already had a right to lease for a dozen years. It expects to be managed under its new Pullman brand.

The group is already the French partner for Jesta, since the former Hilton Cannes joined the Sofitel network. The hotel also requires an upgrade in view of the new positioning of the luxury chain.

Does Hilton have other projects in the works in Paris to compensate for losing this property?

This will certainly make rewards in Paris a lot tougher to get.

I'm not happy about this if it's true. I really like that hotel and like using my points there.

Bobette

I assume this property is the Hilton Paris.

I just stayed at this property last week. They upgraded me and treated me well.

That would be a shame...

I assume this property is the Hilton Paris.

I just stayed at this property last week. They upgraded me and treated me well.

That would be a shame...

Maybe they're getting fed up with being referred to as the Paris Hilton. :)

Hilton lost the Cannes Hilton last November. This is not good for Hilton in France.

I also stayed at this hotel last week. Four of us from the OpenSkies DO stayed there, all were upgraded (Diamonds and Golds) and I think we were all treated very well. I am sorry this property will be dropping out of Hilton. I would have liked to return.

Thinking the same as you, Pat-with-numbers...

The hotel might not look like a Hilton from outside, but definitely from the inside. And the location is great! I would have loved to return too...

Well, it's just a promise just now, so we'll have to wait and see - but I'll definitely miss this property, for location and great Diamond treatment. If the reflagging doesn't occur until wel linto 2009, I'll certainly try to get one more stay here. But I have to ask myself what Hilton is doing ridding itself of these properties (Cannes and Suffren?) I'm sure there's a lot I don't know, but the Hitlon profile is getting much tninner, IMO.

Yikes. I don't even want to give this news to my husband - he loves when we stay there. They have the best staff and the location can't be beat ( well, we like the 7th alot). Lets hope it fails to happen.:(

Booooo! I've always loved this hotel's location, and the staff have treated us so well on numerous occasions--- I've gotten upgraded repeatedly and regularly to the Eiffel Tower view. Perhaps I'll get one more stay in before 1/1......... Goodbye, old friend!

Lets hope it fails to happen.:(

Well, perhaps my translation of the French article was not fully accurate.
But, in French, when a firm has a promise to buy a hotel, it means it is a firm bid.
So on 1st January 2009 Hilton Paris will be managed under a Accor brand

Here is the full article (in French). There is no Internet link as it is an Internet site on subscription only

Jesta Capital s'installe dans l'hôtellerie haut de gamme française
27 juin 2008
Les Echos

Désireux de constituer un portefeuille hôtelier dans l'Hexagone, le groupe, déjà propriétaire du Sofitel de Cannes (ex-Hilton), s'apprête à reprendre le Hilton Suffren à Paris. L'hôtel va devenir un Pullman, du groupe Accor.

Le groupe d'investissement immobilier d'origine canadienne Jesta se redéploie en France en prenant de belles positions dans l'hôtellerie haut de gamme. Après avoir repris, il y a deux ans, par adjudication, l'Hilton de Cannes, moyennant 85 millions d'euros environ, l'ancien propriétaire de la foncière Vectrane multiplie les opérations.

Jesta Capital France, son holding pour l'Hexagone, est ainsi en passe de mettre la main sur un autre Hilton, cette fois-ci à Paris, un gros-porteur (plus de 400 chambres) situé avenue de Suffren, non loin de la tour Eiffel. Il est partie prenante de la restructuration financière de son propriétaire, L'Immobilière Hôtelière, avec le rachat - en cours - de ses obligations convertibles pour 16,5 millions d'euros environ. Surtout, Jesta dispose d'une promesse de vente sur l'hôtel de l'avenue de Suffren pour 150 millions d'euros, sa concrétisation étant susceptible d'intervenir d'ici au 30 décembre, l'opération permettant au groupe Immobilière Hôtelière de se désendetter, en remboursant notamment les créances de Natixis et de Calyon.

L'exploitation de l'hôtel, qui nécessite une rénovation, sera reprise au 1er janvier par Accor qui disposait déjà d'un droit au bail pour une douzaine d'années. Il prévoit de le passer sous sa nouvelle enseigne Pullman. Le groupe français est déjà partenaire de Jesta, puisque l'ex-Hilton de Cannes a rejoint son réseau Sofitel. Cet hôtel nécessite d'ailleurs une remise à niveau compte tenu du nouveau positionnement luxe de la chaîne.

The Hilton brand was taken private by a private equity group (Blackstone I think) last year. They do not buy properties to run them, they buy and sell for profit in a short amount of time. This must be a good profit for them.

That could be the reason, IMHO

This totally blows! Stayed there during the French elections in '07 and had blast. Very accessible as the metro is 1 1/2 blocks for the hotel. As a diamond, was treated extremely well and they even let me take full bottles out of the lounge for my birthday party. :D

If the Hilton gets rid of the propety this will make France very hard to get awards as the only hotel in DT Paris is the AdT.

Leave it to private equity firms to screw up a good thing just to line their pockets. :mad: And we wonder why oil will be trading at $175 per barrel by the end of summer.

to the other Hilton's in Paris? I'm thinking of going in a few weeks and this will be my first visit. Is this the first choice in Paris?

to the other Hilton's in Paris? I'm thinking of going in a few weeks and this will be my first visit. Is this the first choice in Paris?
Hilton AdT tends to get better room/hotel reviews, which also reflects on an over all higher room rate. It's a great hotel. However, I personally find the location of Hilton Paris much better. Location, Location, Location... A room with a view of the Eiffel Tower is priceless! :D

Leave it to private equity firms to screw up a good thing just to line their pockets. :mad:

My thoughts exactly.

A room with a view of the Eiffel Tower is priceless! :D

^ I have to agree. I will remember that stay as one of the best views from a hotel room I have ever had.

The staff at this hotel really take Conrad Hilton's "Be Hospitable" to heart! I can't imagine that the other Hilton properties will be able to find spots for the Suffren staff and I really feel bad about that. Really professional and friendly people from houskeeping to the GM. I started a letter to Madam Dubey (GM) but just can't seem to finish it - After having spent 8 award stays here since 2003, I just don't know what I'll do in the future. ADT looks nice enough (and their spa is great) but I would not expect the large rooms --or the view! The location of Suffren just can't be beat with metro, buses and RER all right there. I'm also an Accor fan but usually for Sofitel. Maybe I'll approach Accor once the Pullman is up and running to see if they'll match my HH Gold. This neighbohood just feels like "home" to me and I'll have a hard time staying anywhere else in Paris.

So that's why there's no award availability for next February! When I called the Diamond desk, they didn't say anything about the impending sale--just that it is fully booked, which sounded like a bunch of crock to me.

Weird thing, though, is that the Charles de Gaulle property has only suites (no regular rooms) for Sunday, February 22--and that means no regular award availability either. Dang!

We'd stayed in the Paris Hilton once, with full view of the lit Eiffeltower, and we were going to treat an 18-year-old friend for her graduation to that view. Double dang!

Leave it to private equity firms to screw up a good thing just to line their pockets. :mad: And we wonder why oil will be trading at $175 per barrel by the end of summer.

You couldnt be running for public office could you?

Two comments in one sentence which have no bearing whatsoever on reality/facts .. but they do sound like the stuff some might want to hear.;)

mike

You couldnt be running for public office could you?

Two comments in one sentence which have no bearing whatsoever on reality/facts .. but they do sound like the stuff some might want to hear.;)

mike

So what is the reality/facts behind the sale of the hotel?

So what is the reality/facts behind the sale of the hotel?

Heres the reality:
a) Hilton still shows this property as being available on their website way into 2009, one can book a room in May or later, little odd for a sale reported to be certain to be completed by Dec dont you think?.
b) Accor/Sofitel etc shows no hotel listed in the Ave Suffren location on their website for July 2009 or later.

Originally Posted by Bmoney Leave it to private equity firms to screw up a good thing just to line their pockets. And we wonder why oil will be trading at $175 per barrel by the end of summer.

Lets hope ole Nostrodamus here didnt bet ALL his money on oil reaching $175 by the end of the Summer:D

mike

Heres the reality:
a) Hilton still shows this property as being available on their website way into 2009, one can book a room in May or later, little odd for a sale reported to be certain to be completed by Dec dont you think?.


This is pretty bizarre: Availability starts showing for May 8, 2009, and beyond--but nothing for the first few months of the year. Renovations? However, the only rates that I can find are non-refundable advance-purchase ones. Strange, isn't it?

This is pretty bizarre: Availability starts showing for May 8, 2009, and beyond--but nothing for the first few months of the year. Renovations? However, the only rates that I can find are non-refundable advance-purchase ones. Strange, isn't it?

Well we might have spoken too soon. It seems hilton.com has been updated and the availibility calender now shows nothing at all for 2009 himmm:)

This property definitely needed upgrading and having stayed there six times I was always treated well but it lacked the ambience one would expect in a Paris hotel ( and the main restaurant was just short of awful)
I liked it mainly because I had gotten to know the area well and it was a short walk to those great restaurants, say on Rue Dominique.

So ok after you have craned you neck out of your window to (partially is all one get to view) see the Eiffel tower ( have they finished redoing the lights?) more than a few times you might want more in a hotel than just a clean bed and decent lounge.

mke

Looks like it is converting on Feb. 1st 09 as accor now has it on their website.

http://www.pullmanhotels.com/gb/hotel-7229-pullman-paris-tour-eiffel-opening-01-02-2009/index.shtml

Pullman Paris Tour Eiffel / Opening 01/02/2009 (http://www.pullmanhotels.com/gb/hotel-7229-pullman-paris-tour-eiffel-opening-01-02-2009/index.shtml)

The sale (150M EUR) of the property by Immobiliere Hoteliere to Jesta Capital seems to be is in jeopardy. Details in French: here (http://www.businessimmo.info/pages/wbg_lettre_article/fiche.php?s_id=4087&s_code=090128N246).

Anyway, whoever the landlord may be, the old tenant (Hilton) left on 31st December and the new one (Accor) has got a lease contract for the next 12 years. Their new Pullman hotel will open on 1st February 2009 after a very quick refurbishment.

According to an article in Le Parisien (http://www.leparisien.fr/paris-75/paris-75015/le-hilton-paris-rend-les-cles-20-12-2008-348573.php) (French newspaper), the sale of the property was negociated in... 1996 (!) and the whole staff has known for years that Hilton would leave in 2008. This would explain why Hilton has not invested a lot in renovating the property over the last few years.

The good news is that the whole staff is supposed to be kept by Accor for the new Pullman hotel (according to the same article). Same staff, different uniforms...

That explains why I was trying to make reservations on hhonors site, and frustratingly couldn't make that hotel come up!

I was googlemapping, LOOKING at the darn "Hilton" sign via google street view, and then flipping back to hhonors, going "WHY CAN'T I FIND THAT HOTEL???"

Ok, so if a fellow had some business to visit Paris, say in November of 2009, and wants to be around the Paris Expo (7 o'clock-ish on the beltway around Paris, couple kilometers southwest of Eiffel Tower area)... where's he want to stay, if he's trying to give Hilton more of his money?

What's the best (remaining) property in Paris?

TDM