IHG expands Hotel Indigo into Continental Europe with a new hotel in Madrid

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has signed a franchise agreement to open a Hotel Indigo in Madrid - the first Hotel Indigo signing in Continental Europe.

Hotel Indigo Madrid is set to open in spring 2012. The 89-bedroom hotel, owned by Orion, will be situated in the centre of Madrid, close to the Opera House, the Almudena Cathedral and the main museums in the area. It also has easy access to the main conference centres and train stations, making it ideal for both business and leisure guests.

Hotel Indigo is IHG's newest hotel brand and offers guests boutique hotel design as well as the peace of mind they get from staying with a large hotel group. There are currently 34 hotels open and a further 52 are in the global pipeline. The brand began its global roll out in January 2009 in the UK with the opening of Hotel Indigo London Paddington.

The Hotel Indigo brand standards don't dictate the number or size of rooms in a property, making it ideally suited to conversion properties. In the current economic environment, conversions are attractive to developers because they require less financing than new builds and can be up and running in a shorter period of time.

Kirk Kinsell, IHG's president for Europe, Middle East and Africa, said: "Now is an ideal time for us to continue to grow the Hotel Indigo brand and Madrid was top of our list for expanding the brand into Continental Europe. Madrid is an exciting, vibrant city and a thriving tourist and business destination, making it ideal for Hotel Indigo guests. We look forward to signing more Hotel Indigo properties in cities across Europe."

There are 30 IHG-branded hotels in Spain with three InterContinental hotels, one Crowne Plaza, four Holiday Inn and 22 Holiday Inn Express hotels. The Spanish capital of Madrid has 11 IHG-branded hotels. The introduction of Hotel Indigo Madrid and Crowne Plaza Madrid Airport will mean five of IHG's brands are represented there.

Hotel Indigo first launched in Atlanta in 2004. Last year Hotel Indigo came to Europe when the Hotel Indigo London Paddington opened. The second Hotel Indigo in Europe, in London's Tower Hill opened earlier this month. It has 44 bedrooms and is situated moments from the city's iconic Tower Bridge. IHG plans to open its first Hotel Indigo in Asia later this year. Hotel Indigo Shanghai on the Bund is expected to open to guests in autumn. IHG has also signed the first Hotel Indigo in Southeast Asia. Hotel Indigo Bangkok Wireless Road is expected to open by the end of 2012.

IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)] is a global company operating seven well-known hotel brands including InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo®, Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn® Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express®, Staybridge Suites® and Candlewood Suites® . IHG also manages Priority Club® Rewards, the world's first and largest hotel loyalty programme with almost 60 million members worldwide

IHG is the world's largest hotel group by number of rooms and IHG franchises, leases, manages or owns, through various subsidiaries, a portfolio of over 4,400 hotels and more than 656,000 guest rooms in 100 countries and territories around the world

IHG has more than 1,100 hotels in its development pipeline and expects to recruit around 160,000 people worldwide over the next few years.

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC is the Group's holding company and is incorporated in Great Britain and registered in England and Wales.

IHG offers information and online reservations for all its hotel brands at www.ihg.com/ and information for the Priority Club Rewards programme at www.priorityclub.com/. For our latest news visit www.ihg.com/media, Twitter www.twitter.com/ihgplc or YouTube www.youtube.com/ihgplc