Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts Unveils Next Generation Guest Room For The Modern Business Traveler

ATLANTA, Oct. 27, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts, part of IHG^® (InterContinental^® Hotels Group), today unveils its next generation guest room - an innovative design developed with industry-leading influencers and experts to meet the changing needs of today's modern business traveler.

Guest room designs, particularly the placement of the bed, have remained virtually unchanged for the last 60 years, since standardized guest room dimensions were introduced by Kemmons Wilson, founder of the Holiday Inn^® Brand.  The new Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts guest room introduces a uniquely angled bed design, reducing noise levels and supporting a great night's sleep.

Given the 24/7, 'always on,' hectic pace of today's business travel, modern business travelers are looking for a peaceful environment where they can be productive, without necessarily feeling like they are working. As more Millennials enter the workforce, they also expect their 'office' to be wherever they want to be – as long as there is connectivity. And, all modern business travelers want to be able to recharge and revitalize – setting themselves up for success.

Working for the past two years with leading designers from outside the sector, Future Agenda and Pearson Lloyd, specializing in areas such as the future of workspace,
Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts has developed an intuitive, cutting-edge design that radically challenges the traditional norms of business space in hotels, creating a modern environment to meets the needs of business travelers in the 21^st century.

Keith Barr, Chief Commercial Officer, IHG said: "At IHG we have a deep understanding of our guests and meet their differing needs through our family of brands. At the heart of Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts brand is a commitment to helping the modern business traveler meet the challenges and hectic pace of today's 24/7, 'always on' environment. Our innovative, intuitive guest room design creates a fantastic new space that will encourage them to be productive but also to rest and crucially get a great night's sleep. The response from guests has been outstanding. They tell us they can rest more easily and can focus more on what they need to do to be successful.  We want to help all our guests to have a successful life - not just a successful stay."

Like the 'working triangle' of a chef's kitchen, the new Crowne Plaza brand's room allows guests to move freely between three key areas – a cocooned bed, a flexible 'nook' and a streamlined workspace. The room's new layout also ensures that there is space to pace – and think. The key benefits are:

• Rest – the uniquely angled bed has a padded, curved headboard, which along with insulated wall panels on each side of the room, dramatically reduces noise levels and helps with better sleep. In comparison to a typical hotel room, consumer testing revealed a 30% improvement in noise reduction.
• Connectivity – the innovative 'nook' area offers a multi-purpose and comfortable space to hold informal meetings, doubling as an area to socialize and relax away from the traditional workspace.
• Space – the dedicated, multi-purpose workspace offers a clutter-free surface with accessible outlets and adjustable lighting - creating a productive environment for work as well as catering for vanity needs with a hair dryer in the drawer and mirror above the desk. 

Testing of the new room's benefits has revealed that compared to a standard hotel room design, more modern business travelers feel that the new guest room design helps them to get a better night's sleep, work productively and efficiently, and makes them feel successful.

The new guest room will launch in the Americas region in 2015 at the Crowne Plaza Atlanta Midtown and with early adopters. As one of the world's fastest growing upscale brands, there is also a clear opportunity for a global rollout in the near future.

Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts is part of IHG's family of nine brands and is one of the fastest growing hotel brands in the world at 400 hotels in more than 65 countries worldwide. IHG is one of the world's leading hotel companies with over 4,700 hotels in 100 countries. The scale and diversity of the IHG family of brands means that its hotels can meet guests' needs whatever the occasion - from an award-winning InterContinental resort to a city center Crowne Plaza hotel.

For more information on Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts visit: www.ihg.com/crowneplaza

About Crowne Plaza^® Hotels & Resorts
Part of the IHG global portfolio, the Crowne Plaza^® Hotels & Resorts brand is a dynamic upscale hotel brand located in nearly 65 countries around the world in major urban centers, gateway cities and resort destinations. As the fourth largest upscale full-service hotel brand in the world and one of the fastest growing, the Crowne Plaza brand has a solid foundation for future growth. The portfolio has doubled since 2003 to nearly 400 hotels, and the global pipeline has increased fourfold to almost 100 hotels. At Crowne Plaza hotels, we help our guests feel energized and productive, and our Sleep Advantage^® program ensures our guests get a great night's sleep to power through their day. For reservations at Crowne Plaza properties, visit www.ihg.com/crowneplaza or call 1-877-2CROWNE. Connect with us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/crowneplaza or Facebook: www.Facebook.com/crowneplaza.

Notes to Editors:

IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)] is a global organisation with a broad portfolio of nine hotel brands, including InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo®, Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn® Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn Express®, Staybridge Suites®, Candlewood Suites®, EVEN™ Hotels and HUALUXE® Hotels and Resorts.

IHG manages IHG® Rewards Club, the world's first and largest hotel loyalty programme with over 82 million members worldwide. The programme was relaunched in July 2013, offering enhanced benefits for members including free internet across all hotels, globally.

IHG franchises, leases, manages or owns over 4,700 hotels and 697,000 guest rooms in nearly 100 countries, with almost 1,200 hotels in its development pipeline.
InterContinental Hotels Group PLC is the Group's holding company and is incorporated in Great Britain and registered in England and Wales.

Visit www.ihg.com for hotel information and reservations and www.ihgrewardsclub.com for more on IHG Rewards Club. For our latest news, visit: www.ihg.com/media, www.twitter.com/ihg, www.facebook.com/ihg or www.youtube.com/ihgplc.

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SOURCE IHG Hotels & Resorts

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