HONG KONG-based Gloria Hotels & Resorts will expand its China footprint by at least five properties between now and the first quarter of next year, one of which will be its first boutique property in Shanghai.

The 90-room hotel, to debut under Gloria’s Merlin boutique brand, is scheduled to open by first quarter next year. It will be located near Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport.

Clarence Wong, vice president-business development, Gloria Hotels & Resorts, said the Merlin brand targets “upscale customers, celebrities, those who are fashion-forward and some corporate clients”.

Two 400-room resorts on Hainan Island – one in Sanya Bay and one in Haitang Bay – will join the company’s property network by the end of this year.

In Changsha, Hunan province, Gloria is planning to open a 300-key five-star hotel and an adjacent 200-key midscale hotel in 2012. Wong said these hotels, like most of Gloria’s other properties, will court the MICE segment, as well as family groups and European travellers, particularly from Russia.

Meanwhile, Gloria’s affiliate programme, which offers marketing support to member hotels, is growing too. It will welcome in November the Red Wall Garden Hotel, a 38-room boutique property in Beijing’s hutong areas. Red Wall Garden Hotel will join two other Gloria affiliates, one in Tokyo and one in Beijing.