ATLANTA— InterContinental Hotels Group has created a new prototype design for its Crowne Plaza brand that will be designed to meet the demands of both guests and developers. Scheduled to make its debut in Milwaukee in the first quarter of 2008, the new Crowne Plaza prototype was developed by IHG in collaboration with Lane Hospitality, which will help build the first prototype. The prototype’s design targets business travelers and, more specifically, flexible meeting space. For example, the lobby area and lounge will contain soft seating with adjacent hard surfaces, power sources and wireless high-speed Internet access to accommodate smaller, informal meetings. In furthering Crowne Plaza’s goal of being “the place to meet,” the prototype’s meeting space will also feature natural light in all rooms, movable partitions or walls that create flexible space, multi-zone controllable lighting, ergonomic chairs, backlit projections screens and wireless HSIA. Guestrooms will feature a design that replicates the residential style found in today’s homes and offer interactive flat-screen televisions with laptop plug-ins, ergonomic chairs, mobile workstations, task lighting, multiple power sources and wireless HSIA. Lane Hospitality will manage the Milwaukee prototype for the hotel’s owner, KL Hotel, LLC.
