Holiday Inn Express is a mid-priced hotel chain within the InterContinental Hotels Group family of brands. Originally founded as an "express" hotel, their focus is on offering limited services at a reasonable price. Standard amenities lean toward the convenient and practical which cater to business travelers and short-term stays. As of September 2019, there are 2,826 Holiday Inn Express hotels featuring over 292,000 rooms worldwide. The Holiday Inn Express concept was intended to target the "upper economy" market segment, offering limited service, low-price lodging. In Europe, the hotels were known as Express by Holiday Inn, but this variation was phased out during the Holiday Inn Global Brand Relaunch which was announced in 2007.
History
In 1991, the first Holiday Inn Express locations opened, with three hotels opening in the United States. Plans at the time called for 250 locations to be open by 1995. In 1996, the brand's first European location opened in Scotland.
Marketing
Starting in 1998, Holiday Inn Express started an ad campaign called "Stay Smart" ads that featured ordinary people achieving superior feats, such as averting a nuclear disaster or performing like rock stars. When questioned on whether or not they are professionals, they would attribute their skills to their stay there with the reply: "No, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night!" These ads have received positive reviews, and have been so successful they have crossed over into popular culture, having been featured in late night comedian jokes and political cartoons. Current ads feature comedian Rob Riggle.
Properties
Typical Holiday Inn Express hotels are built from corporate architectural prototypes, and tend to consist of 60–80 rooms, with a mix of suites and standard rooms in North American properties. Because the chain has been undergoing tremendous growth, the majority of Holiday Inn Express hotels are brand new or newly renovated. The original Holiday Inn Express properties were no-frills hotels with rooms comparable in quality to those of an upscale hotel, but there would be no room service, swimming pool, restaurant, bar, health club, meeting facilities or other on-site amenities, offering only continental breakfast and an exercise room. However newer Holiday Inn Express do feature most amenities from the higher-end Holiday Inn brand, such as a restaurant and bar, conference rooms, and even a full fitness center with a swimming pool. A major differentiation is location, with Express properties typically found in suburbs and besides freeways, while the upmarket Holiday Inn has been placed in urban areas and often near tourist attractions.
