IHG Hotel

Only as a hotel owner. IHG signs its UK agreements with companies that own a hotel or a building to convert, and publishes no franchise offer for individual applicants. Its UK releases name owners such as Mango Hotels, Arora Hotels and Nine Hospitality as franchisees of Holiday Inn hotels.

IHG does not publish a UK franchise fee, royalty rate or investment range. Fee schedules quoted online for IHG brands come from US disclosure documents and do not apply in the UK. The main cost is the hotel itself, whether bought, built or converted.

IHG’s UK and Ireland portfolio includes Holiday Inn Express, Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, voco, Hotel Indigo, Garner, Staybridge Suites and InterContinental, among others. Holiday Inn Express is the largest, with more than 146 open hotels across the UK and Ireland, according to IHG.

No. IHG runs two main models: franchised hotels, where the owner or its operator runs the hotel under an IHG brand, and managed hotels, where IHG manages the hotel for the owner. IHG states that its Essentials brands tend to be franchised and its Luxury and Lifestyle brands are mostly managed, but it publishes no UK split.

It depends on the agreement. Under a franchise, the owner runs the hotel or appoints an operator; under a management contract, IHG or an operating partner runs it. IHG’s UK releases name operators such as Kew Green Hotels, RBH and KRO Hospitality, without always stating which type of agreement applies.

Yes. Much of IHG’s recent UK growth comes from conversions, with existing hotels rebranded as voco, Garner or Crowne Plaza. IHG describes Garner, launched in 2023, as a midscale conversion brand, and has also signed a former office building in Woolwich for conversion into a Holiday Inn Express.

IHG states that Holiday Inn became the first hotel brand to franchise in 1954. IHG itself became a standalone company in 2003, after the demerger of Six Continents plc.