Accor-owned brand Sofitel is to wrap up 2010 with a triple-whammy of hotel openings in exotic locations around the world, the company said December 13.

The five-star brand is opening properties in Austria, Mauritius and Cambodia this week, including a new flagship for Europe in Vienna.

The new Sofitel Vienna Stephansdom features a futuristic glass and steel tower which rises 18 stories high and showcases art by Swiss artist Pipilotti Rist and a living garden wall by landscape architect Patrick Blanc.

With 182 rooms, the hotel also offers a restaurant by Michelin-starred French chef Antoine Westermann which offers great views over the Austrian capital.

The chain will then open its Mauritius property December 15, set across 14 hectares of land with 520 meters of beach.

Designed by Thai architect Lek Bunnag and Japanese fashion designer Kenzo Takada (the man behind the Kenzo fashion outlets), the Sofitel So Mauritius promises that “purity, nature and simplicity comes first.”

As well as the 90 suites and villas with private gardens, patios and ponds, the resort boasts a spa, two restaurants and a bar looking out over the Indian Ocean.

Finally, the brand plans to open the 201-room Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra at the weekend, offering four restaurants, the So Spa, two pools and a sports complex and tennis clubhouse.

It’s been a good year for luxury chain Sofitel, which operates nearly 120 properties around the world and continues to open apace despite the dip in travel last year.

Earlier in 2010, the brand moved up several places ahead of JW Marriott and Renaissance in Business Travel News’ 2010 US Hotel Chain Survey, taking third place behind fellow luxury brands InterContinental and Le Meridien.

Source: AFPrelaxnews