I would consider them primarily business focused, and roughly equivalent to Hilton branded properties. Just like Hilton, Crowne Plaza has some great properties, many average ones, etc...

I stay regularly at Crowne Plaza in Vientiane, Laos; and that is indeed an exceptional property. I think of it as akin to an InterContinental lite, if compared to top InterContinental properties. But, goodness knows there are some ICs in North America, for example, that aren’t half as good as this CP.

In Japan I think they are okay. Nothing fancy, but they solidly compete with Hotel Nikko and other brands in the same market segment. Very clean, comfortable, and efficient.