sdsearch

Because you said that this new hotel that claims it will have "fresh" breakfasts reminds you of HIX!

So if the HIX breakfast even in the UK is so far from fresh, I don't understand why this new concept reminds you of HIX so much.

davidw70

I found this on IHG’s website - a little bit more detail on the new brand, currently known as Project Horizon.

http://projecthorizon.ihg.com/PDF/inc/pdf/flipbook.pdf

beachmouse

Really good soundproofing as part of the construction process is a brand standard that will likely win a lot of customers in that segment, even if they aren't the target age group. Seems like some of the big complaints you get at the lower end Choice and Wyndham spectrum are about noise interrupting work and sleep.

Land-of-Miles

Since when did IHG have any tangible brand standards?

beachmouse

Indigo is actually pretty tight. Saw a short documentary about their head of branding a while back and you could make a drinking game over every time she mentioned correct use of the nautilus theme. The idea there is that each property should reflect local area and culture while a guest still knows it's an Indigo any time they walk into one around the world.

And it does seem to be easier to get that standard when you're getting franchise owners to build from scratch and having to be there from day one compared to asking as existing property to make what are expensive but ultimately cosmetic improvements. Corporate can only really push so hard before the hotel owner decides it makes financial sense to just reflag with Choice or Wyndham instead. So corporate let's the older slide a little and you end with major North American surveys saying guests prefer the newer HIX brand to HI proper in part because IHG was able better work hard product consistency into 1990s construction

Land-of-Miles

HIX elsewhere in the world is a very different beast however so even there where is the consistency? It is a pretty low rent offering in the UK for instance and whilst the newer interiors are nice enough you are in deep trouble if you have a polyester allergy.

Agree re: Indigo it actually is perhaps the most consistent offering of any of the IHG brands and I do like it but often you are paying a premium for some interesting paint in a HIX type space.

The UK CP's seem to be the reverse of the HIX position often being very good and looking after status guests extremely well compared to the US CP's.

All points to me to IHG not really grasping the nettle and trying to appeal to too many audiences (which are mutually exclusive) simultaneously, it just cannot be done effectively.

beachmouse

Meanwhile in the USA, the CPs were/are often the mediocre urban rebrands in the 1970s and 1980s when Holiday Inn was trying to set their more urban 'upscale' properties apart from the roadside exterior corridor Holiday Inns that were also part of the HI category in that era.

ElmhurstNick

If IHG was smart, they'd banish CP from North America. Convert some to HI, some to Indigo, and bounce the rest.

To me there's a difference between "-scale" (up/mid/etc) and ergonomics/modernness. My favorite sub $110 brand is Home2Suites. They are cookie cutter, but for a single person staying 1-3 nights who has a car they are very well laid out. I can even easily work all morning in a H2S room if I'm teleworking as part of a vacation. By comparison, I detest Aloft. I hate the room layout, I hate the the bathrooms, I hate the common areas. Both are "new/modern" but they have very different appeal.

The HIX are what they are, and Candlewoods are getting old in the tooth. IHG needs something to compete both on modernness and price, as I'm finding myself staying at LQ here and there when there is a massive price difference.

beachmouse

The times I've been in LQs for price reasons ($40 or more per night less than the IHG/Marriott/Hilton option in same area) they've been the interior corridors ones and they've been generally solid wth far better reviews than the scary-sounding Choice option nearby. I do wonder how long it is before LQ gets bought out or merges- if Accor wanted a nice 3 star footprint where they currently are not, and wasn't too scared off by the failed Motel 6 experiment, they're really logical dance partners.

Had our first stay in a Staybridge earlier this year, and it's now one of my favorite sub-brands- nice space, comfortable and pleasant rooms, good breakfast, definitely an upgrade over Candlewood. I just wish their footprint was larger.

EasternTraveler

I read the attached article, and I really hope it is just a case of lousy article writing. Holiday Inn Express is NOT even Mid-scale. A mid-scale would have to be ABOVE Holiday Inn Express. For that matter, Holiday Inn itself is just mid-scale. IHG has no concept of value experience, it appears. Or they are just blowing smoke.

I have not been pleased with US HI's. The HIX is comparable to Hampton Inn. The one Candlewood I stay at is on a military base, which is acceptable. I'm not too fond of a Residence Inn or a Tru. I cannot stand those. I will drive a half hour or pay $50 more to avoid a Tru. I wouldn't say I like a microwave breakfast. I don't want a "healthy" breakfast, even though what they claim is healthy is not. I want an Embassy Suites type of breakfast or, at minimum, a Garden Inn breakfast. Save a real cooked-to-order breakfast, I am going for the lowest price, clean, in a safe area and a comfortable bed, and eating at Cracker Barrel or equivalent. Comfortable rules out Tru and Residence.

PES_B1

How many brands are IHG planning to launch? IHG's existing brands are already messy as hell now, what's the difference of CP, Indigo, Kimpton, EVEN , HUALUXE and Voco?