Holiday Inns Given A Makeover

Guardian Unlimited:

Holiday Inn, the largest hotel chain in the world, is to have the biggest makeover of its 55-year history, with ‘lemongrass scent diffusers’, ‘pillow menus’ and piped, soft rock music to come in, and the chain’s widely recognised script-lettering logo to be ditched.

Thousands of franchisees, who operate the 3,125-strong chain around the world, will be required to invest $1bn to update their hotels to the new standard over 3 years. The makeover - thought to be the largest in hotel history - has been 2 years in the planning at Intercontinental Hotels Group, the London-listed owner of the brand. The British company will invest £30m in the project, including a payment to consultancy Interbrand.

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