Development Quarterly - Issue 3 IHG Europe's Development, Design & Openings magazine

BRANDS
Introducing the Next Generation of
public space at Holiday Inn Express ®
London - Park Royal
In the previous issue of DQ magazine, we looked at the
Next Generation of Holiday Inn Express ® , what it means
for the brand, the owners and the guests. Since then
the very first new-look public space has been unveiled
at Holiday Inn Express London - Park Royal. We went
along to check out the new features.
Holiday Inn Express forms part of the largest hotel brand family in
the world and launching the Next Generation of the brand is a huge
step for IHG ® . When prototypes were revealed at the International
Hotel Investment Forum in Berlin earlier this year, they were
extremely well received. Now guests can finally experience the real
thing at the Holiday Inn Express London - Park Royal, which was
unveiled in July.
The five-storey building is well located to pilot the new-look public
space. It has speedy links to central London, Wembley Conference
Centre for major exhibitions, Wembley Stadium and Arena for
sporting events and concerts, and it’s minutes away from Westfield
London, one of Europe’s biggest shopping centres. As a modern build
with 108 bedrooms and three purpose built meeting rooms, Holiday
Inn Express London - Park Royal is in many ways a prototypical
example of the Holiday Inn Express brand. Karan Khanna, Vice
President, Head of Design & Engineering in Europe agrees, “It’s
not the biggest or the smallest Holiday Inn Express and it has
minimal food and beverage (F&B) as per the previous standard. It
is well located for the target guest and its close proximity to IHG’s
headquarters in Denham made the project easier to manage. Also,
the fact that it’s close to Holiday Inn ® London - West, which has a
great Open Lobby, is a benefit. It gives people a strong example of
how the two brands are different and yet carry a similar philosophy.”
That philosophy has been informed by considerable consumer
insight, taking into account the evolving consumer behaviour;
from the rise of the laptop-and-latte guest to the remote-working
business traveller. Karan elaborates, “Guests were telling us they
were looking for an F&B that suited their needs and schedule,
especially in the UK. When you add that to owner insight about
efficient use of public space, we felt that a holistic review of the
Next Generation was required. So it’s not just a new room design
or public space design, it touches every single thing from layout
and furniture to service, technology, merchandising and so on.”
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