How Holiday Inn revolutionized 20th century travel
Kemmons Wilson was ferrying his family from New York to Washington by car when the idea first came to him. The Wilsons needed to stop for the night, but it was the summer of 1951, and American roadside facilities weren't what they are today. Motels were luck of the draw, and often expensive given the lack of amenities."Rooms were never quite as advertised, so [my father] would get a key and go take a look at the room before we signed up for it," recalls Kemmons' oldest child, Spence Wilson, today."Many of the things that we think of today as just standards, well, they weren't standards back then.
"On this particular East Coast road trip, Kemmons, a father of five and an entrepreneur, started dreaming about a simple, family-friendly motel that would offer every necessary amenity. There wouldn't just be one. There would be hundreds, dotted up and down US roads.No matter the state, whatever the highway, you could pull up at this hotel and know exactly what you were getting.
The idea was simple – no frills, just clean, accommodation with a restaurant, plenty of rooms and a pool. ("We always liked to swim, and so we were always clamoring for him to find a place that had a pool," Spence Wilson tells CNN Travel). Children under 12 who shared rooms with parents would be able to stay for free.
In August 1952, Kemmons Wilson followed through on this dream, opening the first ever Holiday Inn. Seventy years later, the Holiday Inn brand is still going strong.
