The former tax office in the center of Hamburg has been converted by Aprrimus, a subsidiary of hotel operator Foremost Hospitality HIEX GmbH, to create a 179-room hotel with the new Holiday Inn Express contemporary look and feel. Located on the Lubecker Straße, in the centre of Hamburg, the hotel has good transport links and a car park, making it the perfect base for business and leisure travelers alike.
IHG has re-engineered the Holiday Inn Express bedroom to deliver modern design with dark wood furniture, a larger bathroom and workspace, and flat screen televisions. The lobby features a decorative water feature wall, large flat screen televisions, and access to a comfortable bar area with 70 television channels.
With the relaunch, Holiday Inn is maintaining its heritage of providing an informal service culture dedicated to treating guests as individuals, combined with a new contemporary look and feel, improved bedding and a choice of soft or firm pillows, a new shower experience and new lighting and signage.
Guests at the Holiday Inn Express Hamburg City Centre will be welcomed by a scent unique to Holiday Inn Express properties worldwide and a signature music program, with an eclectic mix of songs from Paul Simon, Silbermond, Juli, Klee, Kraftwerk, and Norah Jones on the playlist.
Owned by the German fund manager Union Investment, the new hotel is part of the EUR700 million global relaunch of the Holiday Inn brand family – Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express – announced in October 2007 to ensure guests receive a consistently good experience at more than 3,200 Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express hotels around the world.
Rick Lam, vice-president commercial, Continental Europe, IHG, said, “Holiday Inn Express is an uncomplicated hotel choice for guests on the go, offering the quality and service of a Holiday Inn with pared down facilities to suit the needs of guests on the move. In spite of the global downturn, we have continued to focus on growing the Holiday Inn Express brand across Germany while improving the experience with the global relaunch.”
Like all Holiday Inn Express hotels, the Holiday Inn Express Hamburg City Centre offers complimentary breakfast. Rooms start from EUR69 ($102 approx.) a night.
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) is the world’s largest hotel group by number of rooms. IHG has 40 Holiday Inn hotels and 15 Holiday Inn Express hotels in Germany as well as six InterContinental Hotels & Resorts and six Crowne Plaza hotels.
Founded in 2002, Foremost Hospitality HIEX GmbH has 20 Holiday Inn Express hotels in the pipeline across Germany, including its second Holiday Inn Express hotel in Hamburg, which is currently under construction in the St Pauli district of the city. The 120-room hotel is scheduled to open in March 2010.
