Thirteen hotels for IHG in 2014

Stuart Laurie

MISSISSAUGA—IHG is on track to open 13 hotels by the end of the year, Stuart Laurie, director franchise sales and development for InterContinental Hotels Group in Canada told CLN in a recent interview.

"Business has been pretty strong and robust and we have one of the largest pipelines in Canada," he added. "Eight-five per cent is new development and that's great.

Holiday Inn Downtown Montreal

"From a development perspective, the most significant new license signed in 2014 is the new 225-room Holiday Inn Downtown Montreal that will be part of a mixed-used residential, 38-story tower located two block west of the Bell Centre," according to Laurie. This project has already broken ground.

Other significant developments include the combination 130-room Holiday Inn Express & Suites and 80-room Staybridge Suites to be developed on the campus of the University of Saskatchewan. This will break ground in spring 2015.

IHG opened nine hotels year to date in 2014, including its second Staybridge Suites hotel representation in Western Canada, the 125-room Staybridge Suites West Edmonton, AB.

Other openings include...
o   201-room Crowne Plaza Kitchener - Waterloo, ON.
o   130-room Holiday Inn Express & Suites Spruce Grove, AB.
o   97-room Holiday Inn Express & Suites Fredericton, NB. (Uptown)
o   143-room Holiday Inn & Suites London, ON.
o   113-room Holiday Inn Express & Suites Calgary NW - University Area
o   258 Holiday Inn Sherwood Park - Conference Center
o   99-room Holiday Inn Express Fort St. John, BC.
o   75-room Holiday Inn Express Golden, BC. - Kicking Horse

Another four hotels are scheduled to open by the end of the year.
o   97-room Holiday Inn & Suites Edmonton International Airport
o   103-room Holiday Inn Express & Suites Orleans, ON.
o   88-room Holiday Inn Express & Suites Thunder Bay, ON
o   141-room Holiday Inn Express & Suites Mont Tremblant, QC.

“The Canadian economy remains strong, particularly in resource rich Western Canada. We stay optimistic regarding our growth & development goals regardless of the recent volatility in the global markets,” Laurie told CLN.

"IHG has deep roots in Canada and strong representation in Canada with 170 hotels. We continue to grow our hotels through a focused distribution strategy and partnering with high quality sponsors,"  he added.

"One example is redevelopment of the 446-room Holiday Inn Toronto International Airport to a 300-room Holiday Inn and 130-room Staybridge Suites. Steve Gupta and Easton’s Group of Hotels is our sponsor and will be investing approx. $15M." Gupta and Easton’s Group of Hotels has been awarded with IHG’s Canadian Developer of the Year in 2014.

Other projects under construction / development include...
o   Holiday Inn Express & Suites St. John’s Airport, NL;
o   Holiday Inn Express & Suites Vaudreuil, QC;
o   Holiday Inn Express & Suites Oshawa, ON. - Downtown; and
o   the first Candlewood Suites in Western Canada - West Edmonton, AB.