Holiday Inn Express to Open Quebec's First Leed Hotel

94-room hotel will be IHG's first property in Canada built to meet LEED standards.

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. February 01, 2010

January 29, 2010 - IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) [LON: IHG, NYSE: IHG (ADRs)], the world's largest hotel group by number of rooms, announced today that the company's first sustainable hotel in Canada and the first of its type in Quebec will officially open today in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec. The Holiday Inn Express® and Suites Saint-Hyacinthe has been built to meet the criteria of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System for its sustainable practices.

The Holiday Inn Express and Suites Saint-Hyacinthe features several key amenities that create a green environment, with a high efficiency energy distribution, ultra-insulated building, and LED and low voltage fluorescent lighting. The property has employed several key factors to reduce its carbon footprint including:

• Furniture all locally made within 20 kilometres of the hotel
  
• Cement used from a demolished bridge as gravel under and around the hotel
  
• White roof to reflect sun's heat
  
• Special heat capturing water coils
  Custom made natural fiber mattresses (with bamboo and soya bases)
  

Located 30 minutes away from Montreal, the 94-room hotel is a part of the new 'M' Lifestyle Centre in Saint-Hyacinthe. The Lifestyle Centre is designed to be the shopping destination for the entire surrounding region and will include restaurants, shopping, a public market, houses and apartments. The hotel is easily accessible to visitors from any direction using Highway 20 and a short drive to tourist attractions such as the Congress Centre and various festivals.

The new-build property also showcases the Holiday Inn Express brand's new sign, which is the seal of approval that this hotel exemplifies the standards of the $1 billion Holiday Inn brand relaunch program. First announced in 2007, the relaunch program was established to create a more contemporary brand image as part of the drive to increase quality and consistency across the global portfolio. The program focuses on arrival and welcome services, guestroom, and guest bath comfort. The global estate of more than 3,300 Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express properties is expected to be relaunched by the end of 2010.

Elements of the relaunch for Holiday Inn Express include:

Redesigned Brand Signage
An evolution of the iconic script logo, energizing the signature color green and eliminating the current shield shape for a more refreshed and contemporary look.

Warm Welcome
A new signature arrival - including new lighting, landscaping and design features - that creates an energized and branded sense of welcome that is universally recognizable. Customized music and scent selections also engage guests in a complete sensory experience, and a decluttered front desk to promote a more efficient and interactive check-in process.

New Service Promise
A best-in-class service culture - “Stay Real” - to further ensure the team develops the behaviors and skills to best serve guests so they feel like individuals and not numbers. Genuine people delivering real service. Leading the charge will be a newly created position at each hotel - the Guest Experience Champion.

Guests at the Holiday Inn Express and Suites Saint-Hyacinthe will experience a comfortable and smart environment with innovative preferred guest upgrades to ensure a productive stay while travelling for business or leisure. The hotel's newly enhanced complimentary Express Start® breakfast bar will feature a full selection of hot breakfast bar items such as scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage patties, omelettes and Smart Roast® coffee. The SimplySmart™ shower incorporates a proprietary Stay Smart™ Kohler showerhead, signature shower curtain with curved rod, upgraded 100 per cent cotton terry towels and a custom line of cinnamon-scented bath products. Guests will also enjoy the SimplySmart™ bedding collection where they will find new crisp fresh bedding which features an attractive decorative throw, a medium-weight duvet blanket and soft 200 thread-count sheets.

“We are very excited that the first green hotel in Quebec will be a Holiday Inn Express, opening with our new sign,” said Gina LaBarre, senior vice president, Brand Delivery, the Americas, IHG. “This property is a reflection of the Holiday Inn Express focus on providing a smart choice for value-conscious business and leisure travellers. With more than 2,000 properties worldwide and nearly 600 properties in the pipeline, the Holiday Inn Express portfolio continues to expand in destinations like Quebec, providing our guests with an enhanced stay experience at a great value.”

Standard Holiday Inn Express hotel guest rooms feature comfortable queen or king-sized beds, a sitting area with a lounge chair and an in-room coffee machine featuring complimentary Smart Roast 100% Arabica coffee. Business travellers will find large desks, ergonomic chairs, free high-speed internet access, free local and toll free phone calls (U.S. and Canada only) and phones with private voicemail. The Saint-Hyacinthe property offers a variety of additional amenities including 32” LCD TVs in all guestrooms, a 24-hour business centre, an indoor heated pool, more than 1,000 square feet of meeting space and a state-of-the-art fitness centre with an LCD flat panel TV. The hotel also offers 25 Business Class Suites, providing a relaxing and pampering oasis with a king bed or two queen beds, living room, hospitality unit and work desk with padded chair.

“We are very excited to be opening the first LEED hotel in Quebec and the first of its kind in Canada for Holiday Inn Express,” said Pierre Gilles Gauvin, general manager of Holiday Inn Express and Suites Saint-Hyacinthe. “We have invested $10 million with the goal of providing visitors of the area with a hotel that is sustainable and eco-friendly while maintaining a relaxed atmosphere with all the latest in comfort, and we are happy with the end result.”

Holiday Inn Express hotels participate in IHG's guest loyalty program, Priority Club® Rewards. The industry's first and largest guest loyalty program has 47 million members. Priority Club Rewards membership is free and guests can enroll by logging on www.priorityclub.com, calling 1-888-211-9874 or by inquiring at the front desk of this hotel or any of IHG's nearly 4,300 hotels worldwide.

Holiday Inn Express and Suites Saint-Hyacinthe is owned and managed by Hotel M Inc, under a license agreement with a company in the InterContinental Hotels Group and is located at 1500 West Casavant Blvd, Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec. Telephone: 450-251-1111.