IHG Hotels & Resorts kicked off the annual Hunter Hotel Investment Conference by underlining its leadership in the midscale segment. The company opened more than 150 midscale hotels in 2023 and signed another 300.
IHG credits its midscale brand growth to increased interest among owners and guests in a segment STR forecasts will grow in revenue from $14 billion today to $18 billion by 2030 in the U.S. alone. The 2023 introduction of conversion brand Garner hotels builds on a midscale segment portfolio that now spans six brands and more than 4,400 open or in-pipeline hotels in the Americas alone.
“As the midscale space becomes more attractive and competitive, we continue to leverage guest and owner feedback to grow and evolve our brands,” Jolyon Bulley, CEO – Americas, IHG Hotels & Resorts, said in a statement. “Our six midscale brands have grown to represent more than 80 percent of our system size in the Americas by remaining resilient and agile. With nearly 800 additional properties in the regional pipeline supported by IHG’s robust enterprise capabilities, we look forward to extending our reach across new markets and generations of travelers.”
Brand by Brand
Holiday Inn launched a new premium breakfast program and the debut of the H5 prototype design near Chicago’s O’Hare Airport (a dual-brand with Staybridge Suites) in 2023. The brand’s roster of more than 750 open or in-pipeline Americas hotels includes recent openings in Dallas; Philadelphia; Jalisco, Mex.; and on Canada’s Vancouver Island.
IHG’s largest global brand and one responsible for nearly half of its overall hotel portfolio, Holiday Inn Express has extended its footprint to more than 50 countries. The Americas region has more than half of the brand’s 2023 global signings, with regional openings in Dallas; Atlanta; Austin, Texas; San Antonio; Phoenix; and Tampa, Fla.
Considered IHG’s next “emerging brand of scale,” Avid Hotels celebrated the fifth anniversary of its first opening in September by making its New York City debut. The brand is on pace to triple its Americas estate in the coming years with the planned addition of more than 140 properties across the U.S., Mexico and Canada. Notable 2023 openings include market debuts in Tulsa, Okla.; Fort Worth, Texas; Austin, Texas; and Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Garner hotels opened its first three U.S. properties in suburban Seattle; Macon, Ga.; and Quail Springs, Okla. within five months of its official introduction. The brand has seven additional signings in place towards a goal to have more than 500 open U.S. hotels during the next decade. Franchising now is available in Mexico and scheduled to follow in Canada in early 2024. Plans to expand across the Europe, Middle East, Asia and Africa region also are underway, with a recent letter-of-intent signing in Japan to convert three hotels to Garner in Osaka.
Candlewood Suites built upon its roster of more than 520 open or in-pipeline Americas hotels with 49 new signings in 2023, the second most in the region for any IHG brand. Highlights from 2023 included new openings in Salt Lake City, suburban Atlanta, Houston and Irving, Texas.
Upper-midscale all-studio suite brand Atwell Suites capitalized on momentum from its 2022 debut with 16 new Americas signings last year, bringing its regional pipeline to 41 hotels. A third U.S. hotel opening in Austin earlier this month joins its inaugural openings in Miami and Denver, with additional openings forthcoming following a host of recent groundbreakings—including in Las Vegas and Henderson, Nev., as well as Fort Worth, Texas.