IHG, the world's largest hotel group, today unveils the Holiday Inn “Key Card Hotel,” the first-ever hotel made of key cards in New York City, to mark the relaunch of 1,200 Holiday Inn hotels globally in September.

The $1 billion Holiday Inn relaunch is the largest in the history of the hospitality industry, with more than 3,300 hotels being updated - improving quality and driving consistency at Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express hotels around the world. The global estate is expected to be relaunched by the end of 2010.

“The Holiday Inn brand relaunch continues to gain momentum with over 1,200 relaunched hotels anticipated globally through September. Our success with this initiative reinforces our leadership position in the branded hotel category and further demonstrates our ongoing commitment to improving quality and consistency at our over 3,300 properties around the world,” said Kevin Kowalski, senior vice president, Global Brand Management, Holiday Inn Brands. “The Key Card Hotel is a fun and interactive way to showcase the changes happening at our hotels and is the only structure of its kind to ever be created by a hotel brand.”

The 400 sq. ft. “Key Card Hotel,” built by world record-holding Cardstacker Bryan Berg, includes a guest bedroom, bathroom and lobby, all fully equipped with life-sized furniture made out of Holiday Inn key cards. The largest card structure Berg has ever built and the only one in the world of its kind, the Holiday Inn “Key Card Hotel” will be open to the public from September 17 through September 21 at the South Street Seaport in downtown Manhattan.

Holiday Inn Cardstacker Behind The Scenes

During the five day event, Bryan Berg will build a freestanding 9-ft replica of New York’s Empire State Building in the lobby of the “Key Card Hotel,” using Holiday Inn branded playing cards.

Berg said, “This is my largest cardstacking challenge to date and the only card creation I have ever made at full human scale, which is fitting since Holiday Inn is one of the largest and most successful brands in the hotel industry. I think it’s a great way to celebrate relaunching 1,200 Holiday Inn hotels globally.”

IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)] is a global organisation with nine hotel brands including InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo®, Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn® Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express®, Staybridge Suites®, Candlewood Suites®, as well as our two newest brands, EVEN™ Hotels and HUALUXE™ Hotels & Resorts. IHG also manages Priority Club® Rewards, the world's first and largest hotel loyalty programme with over 63 million members worldwide.

IHG franchises, leases, manages or owns over 4,400 hotels and more than 658,000 guest rooms in nearly 100 countries and territories, and has more than 1,100 hotels in its development pipeline.

IHG expects to recruit around 90,000 new people worldwide across its estate over the next few years and is committed to gender balance throughout its business. We aspire to continue retaining a minimum of 25% female representation on the Board.

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.priorityclub.com for more on Priority Club Rewards. For our latest news, visit www.ihg.com/media, www.twitter.com/ihgplc or www.youtube.com/ihgplc.