Award-Winning owner NewcrestImage Group Expands Midscale Hotel Portfolio with IHG

IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) [LON: IHG, NYSE: IHG (ADRs)] one of the world’s largest hotel companies, announces its newest hotel development for Oklahoma City, in the vibrant Bricktown entertainment area. In partnership with NewcrestImage, the new-build Holiday Inn Express® will join the neighbourhood at 101 E. Main St. Construction is expected to be completed by year end, with an anticipated opening of early 2014.

“NewcrestImage has been a long-time strategic partner for us in the Southwestern U.S. and is a proven leader in the hospitality industry,” said Joel Eisemann, Chief Development Officer, The Americas, IHG. “The Holiday Inn® brand family is the fastest growing chain globally in its segment; and we remain focused on strengthening that presence even further in the right markets through strong relationships with our owner community. We look forward to welcoming a new Holiday Inn Express hotel to the IHG family as Newcrest actively pursues strategic growth in the midscale hotel segment.”

The Holiday Inn Express Bricktown in Oklahoma City is NewcrestImage’s seventh property developed under the IHG family of hotel brands. The company has an existing portfolio of six Holiday Inn Express properties – representing more than 450 rooms – in Texas and Arkansas – and three hotels in the development pipeline. NewcrestImage has been recognized with an IHG “Mainstream Developer of the Year Award” and won the Holiday Inn brand’s coveted “Quality Excellence Award” in three consecutive years for its achievements in customer satisfaction and hospitality management.

“The Holiday Inn Express hotel in Bricktown is one of our most exciting projects, and we are thrilled about bringing the brand to downtown Oklahoma City,” says Daxesh Patel, Managing Partner, NewcrestImage. “This is a strong market and is well positioned for growth. We are looking forward to working with IHG on this new hotel.”

The 70,500-square-foot, 124-room hotel will be built by Brightman Construction – a wholly owned subsidiary of NewcrestImage – and will be located within minutes of the Bricktown Ballpark, Cox Convention Center and Chesapeake Energy Arena, home to the NBA’s Oklahoma Thunder. This new hotel will be in line with the $1 billion Holiday Inn® global brand relaunch, the largest project of its kind in the hospitality history. The relaunch continues to drive increased quality and consistency across the global portfolio, and features a contemporary image with emphasis on arrival and welcome services, guestroom and guest bath comfort and a redesigned logo and signage.

The Holiday Inn Express Oklahoma City Downtown is owned by NewcrestImage Group, and will be managed by Image Hospitality – also a NewcrestImage Group subsidiary. The hotel is franchised by an affiliate of IHG.

Holiday Inn Express hotels participate in IHG’s guest loyalty program Priority Club® Rewards, soon to be named IHG® Rewards Club this July.  Membership is free and guests can enrol online, by calling 1-888-211-9874 or by inquiring at the front desk of any of IHG’s more than 4,600 hotels worldwide.