What is "sofitel"

Sofitel is a French hotel chain under AccorHotels, which opened its first property in Strasbourg in 1964. Its first overseas opening (in Minneapolis, United States) was in 1974. In 1995, Sofitel had 100 hotels in 40 countries and employed 12,500 people. Two years later, Sofitel joined the Accor Group, founded in 1983 and in 2000, opened properties in Philadelphia and New York. In 2005, Sofitel continued its expansion with Sofitel Asia Pacific. In 2008, Sofitel became its own unit in the Accor group with 120 Hotels worldwide.