Holiday Inn

Holiday Inn by IHG is an American chain of hotels based in Atlanta, Georgia and a brand of IHG Hotels & Resorts. The chain was founded in 1952 by Kemmons Wilson (1913–2003), who opened the first location in Memphis, Tennessee. The chain was a division of Bass Brewery from 1988 to 2000, Six Continents from 2000 to 2003, and IHG Hotels & Resorts since 2003. It operates hotels under the names Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Holiday Inn Club Vacations, and Holiday Inn Resorts. As of 2018, Holiday Inn has hotels at over 1,100 locations.

History

1950s–1970s

Kemmons Wilson, a resident of Memphis, Tennessee, was inspired to build a motel after being disappointed by the poor quality of roadside accommodations during a family

Development since 2000

The Wall Street Journal reported in 2002 that the company, led by Ravi Saligram, was producing a new 130-room "Next Generation" prototype hotel to rebuild the brand. It would include a bistro-like restaurant and an indoor pool. The first of these prototype hotels, the Holiday Inn Gwinnett Center, was built in Duluth, Georgia, in 2003.

In 2008, Mitchells and Butlers sold off 21 Holiday Inn hotels in exchange for 44 standalone pubs to Whitbread. In September 2008, IHG announced the creation of a new timeshare brand, Holiday Inn Club Vacations, a strategic alliance with The Family of Orange Lake Resorts.[20]

On October 24, 2007, IHG announced a worldwide relaunch of the Holiday Inn brand, which spelled trouble for the remaining motels. The relaunch was "focused on delivering consistently best in class service and physical quality levels, including a redesigned welcome experience [and] signature bedding and bathroom products". The first relaunched Holiday Inn opened in the U.S. in spring 2008. Currently there are more than 2,500 relaunched Holiday Inn brand hotels around the world, and the Holiday Inn global brand relaunch process was completed by the end of 2010.[21] By then, the majority of the HI motels were removed from the chain, with a few exceptions. (In the 1980s and 1990s, HI hotels were built alongside the motel properties [i.e. Baton Rouge, Louisiana] in order to provide more amenities and newer rooms.) When the relaunch occurred, these motels were either demolished or closed off, even if a full-service hotel was already on site. Today, fewer than 10 original Holiday Inn motels still operate, others having been replaced by newer Holiday Inn Express locations or having switched to other chains.

In August 2012, the chain celebrated its 60th anniversary.[22]

In 2024, IHG announced a vast expansion of the Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express brands in Germany as part of a franchise and cooperation agreement with German hotel operator Novum Hospitality which in turn will rebrand the majority of their currently over 100 properties into Holiday Inn, including a newly created sub-brand named Holiday Inn - the niu.[23]

Brands

Current properties

Holiday Inn currently operates hotels and resorts using the following brands:

Holiday Inn – This is the most recognizable tier of service. There are two distinct types: high-rise, full-service plaza hotels and low-rise, full-service hotels. The former also included many high-rises with round, central-core construction, instantly recognizable from the 1970s. Both offer a restaurant, pools at most locations, room service, an exercise room, and functional but comfortable rooms.
Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites – The properties offer all the amenities and services of a regular Holiday Inn but consist of rooms mixed with suites.
Holiday Inn Resort (called Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort from 1991 to 2007[24][25]) – The properties also offer all the amenities and services of a full-service Holiday Inn; resorts are considered more of an advertising branding than a completely different brand. Most Holiday Inn Resorts are located in high-leisure-tourism markets.
Holiday Inn Select – These upper-range full-service hotels cater to business travelers, and are often located next to international airports. In 2006 it was announced that Holiday Inn Select hotels would be discontinued. Existing hotels may continue to operate under the Holiday Inn Select flag until their existing license expires, however many are converting to Crowne Plaza or regular Holiday Inn hotels, with no further marketing or advertising based around the "Select" moniker. This brand no longer appears to exist.
Holiday Inn Club Vacations – These are resorts aimed at families and are based in the U.S. and Mexico. The accommodations are mostly villas and suites. Membership operates similar to a flexible timeshare basis.
Holiday Inn Garden Court – The properties exist only in Europe and South Africa and are designed to reflect the national culture. This brand no longer appears to exist.
Holiday Inn Express – These properties originally focused on economy and limited service, very similar to competitors like Comfort Inn/Comfort Suites, Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott and Hampton by Hilton, providing only continental breakfast and an exercise room. However newer Holiday Inn Express feature most amenities from the higher-end Holiday Inn brand, such as a restaurant and bar, conference rooms and a fitness center with a swimming pool. A major differentiation is location, with Express properties typically situated in suburbs and along freeways, while Holiday Inn is situated in urban areas (including downtowns) and often near tourist attractions. Most Holiday Inn Express locations now offer a hot breakfast option.

Former properties

Holiday Inn Jr. was a motel brand during the 1960s and 1970s with just 44 to 48 guest rooms and limited amenities. The first such location opened in Camden, Arkansas in 1964.[26] The last hotel to operate under the Holiday Inn Jr. name was in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, which remained in operation until it burned down in 1979.[27]
Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza was separated from Holiday Inn in 1994 to form a distinctive brand, Crowne Plaza. Nonetheless, Holiday Inn brochures still continued to list the locations of Crowne Plaza alongside other Holiday Inn properties.

Trademark conflicts

For two decades a hotel called Holiday Inn located in Niagara Falls, Ontario prevented the Holiday Inn Corporation from operating one of its own hotels in that city since the name was already in use. The hotel used a logo similar to the old Holiday Inn logo from the 1970s. The Holiday Inn Corporation directory referred to the hotel as "not part of this Holiday Inn system". The hotel also owned the holidayinn.com domain,[28] which forced the much larger corporation to use holiday-inn.com. In 2006, an agreement between IHG and the Niagara Falls, Ontario hotel owners was reached that allowed both the Hotel and Holidayinn.com to be incorporated into the IHG system.[29]

During the 1960s and early 1970s, Holiday Inn hotels located in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina were simply called "Holiday" because a local motel already had the "Holiday Inn" name. The Myrtle Beach motel started as Ocean Front Lodge in 1948 but changed the name to Holiday Inn in 1949 (three years before the founding of the chain), and put up a sign in 1955 with similar lettering to that of the chain, which registered its sign in 1954. The chain first franchised motels in the area in 1956. The Myrtle Beach hotel put up a sign resembling the "Great Sign" in 1968, and used "®" with its name, though many of its items came from suppliers which assumed they were selling to the chain.[30] The Myrtle Beach hotel "began a concurrent use proceeding in the Patent and Trademark Office" in 1970, which was suspended when the name was contested before the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina (Florence division) in 1973.[30] The court said the Myrtle Beach hotel had plenty of repeat business and was not negatively impacted by the chain's motels in the area. The 1973 injunction meant the Myrtle Beach hotel was granted the right to use the name but with a different style of lettering. The concurrent use proceeding resumed for the Myrtle Beach hotel, which continued to operate as "Holiday Inn", although it was required to use a distinctly different font. A 1976 ruling granted the Myrtle Beach Hotel the right to a service mark. A 1979 order denied a motion to modify the 1973 injunction, though it was believed the hotel had followed all restrictions. A 1981 decision by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the 1979 action.[31]

type	Subsidiary
founder	Kemmons Wilson
area served	Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia-Pacific
industry	Hotels
services	Food services, lodging, conventions, meetings, timeshares
parent	Bass Brewery (1988–2000) Six Continents (2000–2003) IHG Hotels & Resorts (2003–present)
divisions	Holiday Inn Express
footnotes	‡R1R‡
foundation	August 1, 1952 Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
location	Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.‡R2R‡
locations	1,173 (September 30, 2018)‡R3R‡
homepage	www.holidayinn.com

History

1950s–1970s

The Great Sign

1980s–1990s

Development since 2000

Brands

Current properties

Former properties

Trademark conflicts

See also

External links

References