Skift Take

Has "Millennial mindset" just become a euphemism for "smart" and "decent" these days? Either way, it's welcome, especially when it comes to hotel design.

The newly opened 153-room Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Bellingham in Bellingham, Washington is the first Holiday Inn to show off the brand’s new H4 guest room design.

The design emphasizes flexibility above all. A “welcome nook” for guests to hang their coat, drop their keys, and plug in their devices, just as they would near an entryway or mud room in their own homes, is included, and there is also a new room type called the King Bed with Comfort Hideaway. This room has a trundle-style bed that can double as a sofa during the day and transform into two twin beds at night. A new “moveable desk” is also located in each room so guests can work wherever they feel most comfortable. [See photos, below, for further details.]

The new room design is a departure from Holiday Inn’s previous guest room designs that were more traditional in nature and not nearly as contemporary in look and feel as the new H4 features.

“We designed H4 with a Millennial mindset, not just with the Millennial traveler in mind,” said Eric Lent, vice president of the Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza brands in the Americas for InterContinental Hotels Group. “Over the past few years, design has become more approachable, affordable and therefore, expected by consumers, and hotel brands have had to evolve their design to keep up with changing consumer taste. One part of that design shift is how function intersects with style and comfort, creating a uniquely own-able brand experience.”

Lent added, “Given the diversity of Holiday Inn hotel guests, the brand needed a design that is adaptable and one that would work for the business traveler during the week, but also appeal to the leisure guest on the weekend. For example, we were very thoughtful in designing our new guest room to create more than just a flexible work space, but rather a flexible environment that allows guests to do what they want, where they want and adapt from business to leisure within the same space.”

“Going forward, all new build and renovated Holiday Inn hotels in the U.S. and Canada will use the H4 design,” he noted. “Hotels that are currently open will adopt the design through the lifecycle of their license agreement.”

Holiday Inn isn’t the only IHG brand in recent months to add new guest room designs in the Americas. Last year, the company also debuted new WorkLife room designs for Crowne Plaza as part of a $200 million investment to reinvent the brand.

A small desk in a redesigned Holiday Inn room.

The new Holiday Inn guest room design.

The new moveable desk feature in Holiday Inn rooms.

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Tags: crowne plaza, holiday inn, ihg, intercontinental hotels group

Photo credit: Holiday Inn's new H4 guest room design includes a "welcome nook" near the entrance of each guest room. InterContinental Hotels Group

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