As part of its plans to double its presence in Europe by 2015, this week Marriott International announced three new Renaissance hotels for Switzerland and France.

Marriott's first stop was the city of Lucerne, in central Switzerland, where it got together with Lucerne-based Hotel Schiller Betriebe AG to sign a franchise agreement for the Renaissance Lucerne; this 87-room hotel, formerly the Hotel Schiller, is expected to open in 2011 and will be Marriott's first hotel in the city.

Next the US hotel group met up with ARTHOTEL Aix-en-Provence SAS in the city of Aix-en-Provence, in the South of France, to sign an agreement for the 139-room Renaissance Aix-en-Provence; this new-build hotel is to open in 2012.

The last stop on Marriott's tour was Paris, where it signed an agreement with Paris Country Club SA for the 113-room Renaissance Paris Saint-Cloud; once open in 2013, this hotel will be Marriott's fifth Renaissance property in the French capital.

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