ATLANTA—Since the Holiday Inn Express brand has become synonymous with making guests smarter through its well-known consumer ad campaign, parent company IHG decided it made sense to develop what it refers to as a ‘“smart” new design prototype for the select-service chain.
Last month, the brand unveiled its next-generation prototype to the media in a warehouse facility in Smyrna, GA. According to the company, the latest iteration of the brand—which debuted in 1991 and hadn’t updated its design prototype in some 14 years—will be cost-neutral to owners. Final plans for the updated product are expected to be complete by the end of Q2.
Joel Eisemann, chief development officer, IHG, elaborated on the benefits of refreshing the brand. “The first thing is Holiday Inn Express is already a very successful brand. We have tremendous distribution. A big part of what we’re doing is so that we stay a leader and we stay attractive to our owners and our guests. This is part of our reinvestment in the Holiday Inn Express brand and this is going to position us extremely well going forward,” he said.
The brand worked with its owner advisory board, conducted focus groups with guests, and completed competitive analysis and research to develop what it considers a turnkey design for its properties in the U.S. and Canada. There are currently some 1,800 Holiday Inn Express properties in the U.S. and Canada, and more than 2,250 locations worldwide.
Punit Shah, president and CEO, Liberty Group, plans to build eight new hotels featuring the new design, in addition to retrofitting his company’s existing Holiday Inn Express properties. Shah—who is on the advisory board and was involved in the creation of the new design—said the fact that there hadn’t been any recent updates to the flag made it critical.
“In order to stay relevant and competitive within our market, it was absolutely necessary—and I think that’s the priority of getting it to market immediately. The whole foundation behind this task force was to execute our plan and bring it to market fast enough where [the brand’s]owners can implement this and get projects out of the ground and remain competitive,” he said.
Shah added the design evolved over time since the process began in earnest last summer and that IHG remained very responsive to suggestions from owners, resulting in a more collaborative process. “What you see here is in no way, shape or form the first thing that was presented to us, not even close. This is a product of the engagement of the owners and the feedback that we gave IHG. If it was one-sided, the way many other brands are, this product would not look the way it does today,” he said.
One of the objectives of the new design was to more fully maximize the real estate on the first floor of the hotel. As a result, the brand has created a Great Room, a multipurpose area in the lobby of the hotel, which encompasses the brand’s breakfast bar, dining area and additional seating areas. The room provides an environment where guests can tailor their experience, whether interacting with an individual or group, working or taking a break, according to the company.
The Great Room includes flexible space featuring a business center and 24/7 market and individual check-in pods in the front lobby of the hotel, which are designed to increase interaction between hotel staff and guests. In addition, staff members at check-in pods have a view of the entire great room, enabling responsive service when needed, according to the company.
“Guests can come together in a meaningful way. A large check-in desk can be a barrier,” said Jennifer Gribble, director, Head of Americas Holiday Inn Express Brand, IHG.
The guest room is designed to provide a revitalized, contemporary space with features such as a functional and flexible work space for maximum productivity; functional storage units providing horizontal luggage storage that allows guests to maximize their space; and moveable seating, which includes a chaise lounge.
Considerable consideration has been given to noise reduction within the room. A rolling door separating the entryway and bathroom area from the rest of the room is made of acoustical materials, as is the specially designed headboard. In addition, a one-piece window and staggered, studded construction are also designed to help reduce noise.
From an efficiency standpoint, the floor is made up of individual carpet tiles, which enables owners to replaces tiles individually as needed as opposed to replacing the whole floor. New décor for both the guestroom and public areas features new colors.
“Guests appreciate simplicity so we’ve created a design with that,” said Gribble, later adding, “we’re making sure our guests can have a blank canvas, whether they are business travelers or leisure.”
The new prototype also puts an emphasis on sustainability with such features as a white roof designed to reflect light, various LED lighting options and low flow showerheads. In addition, Gribble added the brand will require its hotels to feature a market going forward with alcohol options being considered on a market by market basis.
Eisemann maintained that the improvement to the brand can ultimately help franchisees generate a higher rate. “First of all [we’re] putting it in the right locations and being in the right location can drive rate. We also believe that the product being more relevant, fresh, and new is going to help us drive rate too,” he said, adding “having appropriate revenue management” is key too.
Nevertheless, Eisemann noted making sure the new prototype would not add cost for its franchisees was absolutely essential. “The economics of Holiday Inn Express is great, and it needs to continue to be great. It can’t be anymore cost to build than it’s been in the past,” he said.
Eisemann noted that the refreshed design will not be mandated to existing properties, but the brand would include the appropriate elements in product improvement programs (PIPs) going forward. He added that a renovation would likely represent the first property featuring the new design before a new build property.
Eisemann acknowledged that IHG plans to utilize some of what it’s implementing with Holiday Inn Express for some of its other brands. “For us this was about establishing a process. How do you do the customer research, bring in the guest and get feedback, work with the owners and hire the right design firms? Each brand is going to be a little bit different but we’re going to be continuing on with that. In fact, the next brand that we’re working on is Holiday Inn, we’ve already kicked off this process to look at some of these same elements with Holiday Inn,” he said.
Eisemann touted what he believes will be the end result of the brand update. “One of the most dynamic brands will continue to be one of the most dynamic because of what we did with the new prototype,” he said.