LONDON—As part of a £600-million upgrade project, Kew Green Hotels, owned by InterContinental Hotels Group, unveiled their new image for 15 new hotels in the U.K. and Ireland, with the final changes at Holiday Inn Slough/Windsor (England) taking the number of relaunched properties to 50. The move makes Kew Green Hotels the first owner outside of the USA to relaunch its entire Holiday Inn portfolio.
Kew Green Hotels Ltd was formed in September 2001 to develop and operate branded hotels in the U.K. and they currently operate 12 Holiday Inn, three Holiday Inn Express and one Crowne Plaza hotels. The firm is backed by HBOS and property finance group the Moorfield Group, which holds a number of diverse property related investments and since 1996 has acquired over 150 real estate assets in the U.K.
Of the issues of a large refurbishment project in the current economic climate Paul Johnston, managing director of Kew Green Hotels, said in a release: “We see the downturn as the right time for people to reassess brands they may not have tried for some time. We’re hoping business and leisure travellers will try out our hotels now and keep coming back. We’ve made a big investment and it’s rewarding to see the results.”
The upgrade aims to create a more contemporary look and feel, improve quality and drive consistency across more than 3,200 hotels around the world and, according to the chain, the revamped hotels are already reaping the benefits with their RevPAR outperforming hotels that have not yet been upgraded by more than five per cent on average, as well as reporting increased levels of guest satisfaction.
The aim is to maintain what the company feels is a heritage of creating a comfortable, relaxed environment by focusing on the elements that matter most to guests, including an informal service culture. The Holiday Inn logo has also had a makeover – its first major change since the brand launched more than 50 years ago.
The more contemporary image also includes new marketing strategies, such as perfuming reception areas with a scent unique to Holiday Inn properties plus a signature music programme which changes from upbeat to a slower tempo at different times of the day.
IHG relaunched three hotels every day in the first quarter of 2009 and has already relaunched more hotels this year than in all of 2008. It now has nearly 1,700 hotels in its development pipeline, which will create 140,000 jobs worldwide over the next few years.
Of Kew Greens’ Holiday Inn refurbishment plan and its completion of 50 properties, Kirk Kinsell, president of Europe, Middle East and Africa, IHG, said in a release: “Reaching this milestone in the current economic climate shows our owners’ commitment to the relaunch. In tough times people look for value and quality – this is what the Holiday Inn relaunch is delivering.”
The Holiday Inn global relaunch was first announced in October 2007 and is on track to be completed by the end of 2010. As part of this process all Express by Holiday Inn hotels will become Holiday Inn Express hotels to create global consistency. In the interim, as the hotels implement the relaunch both the existing and new Holiday Inn brand family identities will be used.