Holiday Inn is a hotel brand that is part of the InterContinental Hotel Group or IGH. It is one of the most recognized hotel names in the world. Holiday Inn has a reputat... Keep Reading

Holiday Inn is a hotel brand that is part of the InterContinental Hotel Group or IGH. It is one of the most recognized hotel names in the world. Holiday Inn has a reputation for great service, comfort and value. It is also the world's largest hotel chain with over 238,000 bedrooms and over 1,800 locations in the United States.
Holiday Inn was founded by Kemmons Wilson in Memphis Tennessee on August 1, 1952. He came up with the idea after a family road trip to Washington DC where he was very disappointed with the quality of the roadside motels. The original hotel was given the name Holiday Inn by the hotels architect as a joke in reference to the 1942 movie "Holiday Inn" staring Bing Crosby.
The corporate headquarters for Holiday Inn was in a old plumbing shed owned my Mr. Johnson, who was Mr. Wilson's partner. It was in 1953 when the company built its first four hotels, which were located at the four approaches to Memphis.
In 1957, Mr. Wilson franchised the chain as Holiday Inn of America with the hotels doctrine that the properties be standardized, clean, predictable, family friendly and accessible to road travelers. By 1958 there were 50 locations and by 1964 there were over 500 hotels. In 1968 Holiday Inn opened its 1,000th location in San Antonio Texas.
Today Holiday Inn operates seven different hotel brands. Holiday Inn is the most recognizable, Holiday Inn Hotel &Suites which offers all amenities and services, Holiday Inn Resort mostly located in tourists markets, Holiday Inn Select which caters more to business travelers, Holiday Inn Sunspree Resorts located in resort area with deluxe services, Holiday Inn Garden Court which are located in Europe and South Africa, and Holiday Inn Express which is a smaller version of the hotel with less amenities and services.