Construction of a US$60 million five-star hotel project began on Tran Hung Dao Street, Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1 Monday.

The five-star Pullman Saigon Center Hotel is owned by Saigon Holding Company (Saigontourist) and its member Que Huong - Liberty JS Company.

The 24-storey hotel will be managed by French Hotel Accord, a worldwide hotel management group.

The new hotel will have a capacity of 300 guest rooms, three basements, offering a range of modern amenities, like swimming pools, restaurants and bars, fitness centers, an indoor recreational center, spas, and a convention center.

The hotel project is scheduled for completion in 2013.

Accor is one of the world’s leading hotel managers with a network of 4,111 hotels in 91 countries, operating under 13 complementary brands, including Mercure, Sofitel, MGallery, and Motel 6.

It currently manages 13 hotels around Vietnam under the Sofitel, Novotel, Mercure, and Grand Mercure brands.

Que Huong – Liberty, a Saigontourist group company, owns six of them with a combined capacity of 500 rooms.