It is the second of five new hotels that MEININGER Hotels will open this year and the third in France: the MEININGER Hotel Bordeaux Gare Saint-Jean opened 26 May. Close to main train station Gare Saint Jean, the hotel can accommodate up to 493 guests in a total of 162 rooms. With this project, the hotel group once again emphasizes its ambitious growth plans during the pandemic.
MEININGER's typical hybrid concept
The MEININGER Hotel Bordeaux Gare Saint-Jean offers 162 rooms with either two, three, four or six beds and one large guest kitchen, free Wi-Fi, washing machine and dryer for guests, a children's play area, and game zone. "MEININGER's hybrid hotel concept serves target groups from backpackers and families to business travelers and school groups. The flexible room structure with twin and multi-bedded rooms with up to 6 beds compensates for market fluctuations and enables maximum operational efficiency at peak times," says Doros Theodorou, CCO of MEININGER Hotels. "We want to and plan to continue to expand this successful hospitality concept throughout Europe in the future."
Further openings in France, Austria and Switzerland this year
"We are looking forward to this year's new openings, which started with MEININGER's market entry in Switzerland, in Zurich in May," says Doros Theodorou. The MEININGER Hotel Bordeaux Gare Saint-Jean is the third hotel to open in France in just one and a half years, after Paris and Lyon. "During the tough times for the hotel industry in 2020 and 2021, we have been able to shift our priorities and give focus to internal company projects in digitalization, but have also managed to maintain the momentum of our opening programs," says Theodorou. By the end of 2021, a fourth hotel in France will follow. This time in Marseille, located in the district of La Joliette in the 2nd arrondissement, north of the Old Port. La Joliette is the center of France's largest urban renewal project Euroméditerranée, which represents the modernization and restructuring of the city center and former industrial port, making it the perfect location for an innovative MEININGER hotel. With Zurich, Bordeaux and Marseille, two more MEININGER hotel openings are expected this year in Innsbruck and Geneva.
The new MEININGER Hotel Bordeaux Gare Saint-Jean is located in the southern district of St. Jean, an up-and-coming neighborhood with many restaurants, bars, markets, bistros and clubs. Tram lines C and D as well as six bus lines can be reached in no time to get to the world's largest digital art center Bassins de Lumiéres or the interactive wine museum Cité du Vin. Merignac Airport is also directly connected with bus line 1 from Peyronnet station.
A city between vineyards, culture and architecture
Bordeaux is not only a city for those who love the world-famous wine that grows in the surrounding vineyards, but also for visitors to the Vinexpo Wine Fair and other international congresses. Increasingly, many culture and architecture enthusiasts are visiting the port city in France's south-west. After all, the 350 historical monuments and sights of the Old Town helped to recognize it as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007. These include Esplanade des Quinconces, Europe' largest inner-city square, Cathedrale St. André, the old town hall tower, or the almost 80-metre-wide waterfront promenade on the River Garonne. The historic ensemble of Bordeaux is considered to be the largest and most beautiful within France. In just a 15-minute walk, guests of the new MEININGER hotel can reach the city center and arrange beautiful holiday pictures e.g., on the Place de la Bourse, where a huge, accessible water level impressively reflects the entire ensemble.