IHG’s Hotel Indigo brand on track for major global expansion

Hotel Indigo Grand Cayman_3

If all goes according to plan at IHG Hotels & Resorts, there will be twice as many Hotel Indigo properties in the world.

The lifestyle brand — the second largest in IHG's luxury and lifestyle portfolio after InterContinental Hotels & Resorts — currently has 154 hotels across 29 properties. But IHG plans to double the brand's size in the next three to five years, the company announced this month. Part of this ambition rides on Hotel Indigo opening more resorts — with five slated to open this year alone.

"Each Hotel Indigo is a vibrant reflection of its surrounding landscape, intricately woven with the threads of its local neighborhood," Carol Hoeller, vice president of global brand management for Hotel Indigo and Voco Hotels, said in a statement. "Although Hotel Indigo is often associated with urban settings, neighborhoods can be found in every corner of the globe, each with its own story waiting to be discovered, so it only made sense as we strive to set new standards in the 'premium lifestyle' space to expand our resorts offerings across the portfolio."

Hotel Indigo currently has 15 resort properties, and the overall development pipeline for future Hotel Indigo resorts sits at 34 properties.

The 115-room Hotel Indigo La Paz Puerta Cortes opened earlier this year and features a beach club, two restaurants, a spa and an infinity pool. The 282-room Hotel Indigo Grand Cayman, which opened last month, is near Seven Mile Beach and features a wide array of food and beverage outlets — including the highly popular Pom Pom Rooftop Lounge.

Upcoming openings for the brand around the world include the Hotel Indigo Jabal Akhdar Resort & Spa — the first property for the brand in Oman — the Hotel Indigo Bintan Lagoi Beach in Indonesia and the Hotel Indigo Palau in Micronesia. The brand also has a significant pipeline of hotels in development as well as recently opened properties in China.

The expansion comes amid a wave of brand additions in recent years to IHG's luxury and lifestyle lineup, which now includes Six Senses, Regent, InterContinental, the Vignette Collection and Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants alongside Hotel Indigo.

Some might say that's a lot of brand overlap in just the luxury and lifestyle space, but Hotel Indigo is meant to provide local and personalized experiences in the spirit of the broader lifestyle hotel movement. Consider it the hotel brand equivalent of the friendly neighborhood bar or restaurant relative to some of its glitzy siblings.

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