Holiday Inn Disney Springs Sold

[writerguyfl]

Right now I'm staying at the Holiday Inn Disney Springs (on Hotel Plaza Blvd). I woke up today and found a letter that said:

"As a currently registered guest, we would like to advise you that as of December 8, 2016, the Holiday Inn Orlando - Disney Springs Area Hotel has been sold and will no longer be managed by an affiliate of Intercontinental Hotel Group, but will be managed by an affiliate of Interstate Hotel and Resorts Inc. The new owners/operators of the hotel have assumed your reservation and have agreed to honor the terms of that reservation. The hotel will remain a franchise of Holiday Inn and there will be no changes to the reward program."
​

(It is a bit embarrassing that the letter misspells the name of the new owner. They forgot the "s" in Hotels.)

As someone who used to work in the hospitality industry, I can say that this sort of thing is fairly common. In fact, most hotels are franchises. If anyone has a future reservation at this hotel, you have nothing to worry about. I only mention it because I know some people who visit this forum might be interested in the news.

Interstate Hotels is a big company. Their website says they have a portfolio of 430 hotels in the US and in 8 other countries. Website: http://interstatehotels.com/

 

[HopperFan]

Thanks for sharing, hotel business is interesting, "the man behind the curtain" environment.
I am glad to see they are based out of Virginia, but yeah they need to up their communications staff requirements.

 

[jwfla422]

Thanks for sharing as well, we are due to check in there tomorrow. I am an IHG member and I'm curious to see if that will change in the future. I will definitely mention that I "heard" about the change of ownership when we check in tomorrow to see what they have to say. We just stayed here a few weeks ago and had no idea.

 

[writerguyfl]

...but yeah they need to up their communications staff requirements.

I didn't take the letter with me when I checked out. But, it might have been written by someone at the hotel and not the new owner/management company.

Thanks for sharing as well, we are due to check in there tomorrow. I am an IHG member and I'm curious to see if that will change in the future. I will definitely mention that I "heard" about the change of ownership when we check in tomorrow to see what they have to say. We just stayed here a few weeks ago and had no idea.

I sincerely hope everything stays the same. I had another great stay and I'm planning on concentrating my future trips to the Holiday Inn and DoubleTree Suites.

After leaving, it dawned on me that I should have asked if they were getting a new General Manager. From working in the industry, I've seen that great hotels usually have great GMs. While getting a new GM doesn't necessarily mean anything will deteriorate, keeping the current one would be a good sign that the hotel will remain good.

 

[HopperFan]

I didn't take the letter with me when I checked out. But, it might have been written by someone at the hotel and not the new owner/management company.

That would be my guess, but it still doesn't excuse not double checking the name of your new owner ...

 

[spiceycat]

i am confused there list of hotels include Hilton, Hyatt and other holiday inns?

 

[writerguyfl]

It is very common for companies that own hotels to have franchises with multiple chains. Doing this allows the company to capture a wider market share within a geographic region. In lots of cases, there isn't significant overlap in customer base because 1) different brands have distinct markets in terms of cost, quality, and demographics, and 2) business travelers are often required to stay within a pre-determined set of hotels.

Although it may seem like hotel chains wouldn't want a franchise owner to run a competitive hotel, there are "firewalls" in place to protect proprietary information. For example, the list of customers who stay at a Holiday Inn would never get shared with a Hilton owned by the same company. Regardless of owner, each individual hotel really is a completely separate business.

 

[HopperFan]

i am confused there list of hotels include Hilton, Hyatt and other holiday inns?

It is very common for companies that own hotels to have franchises with multiple chains. Doing this allows the company to capture a wider market share within a geographic region. In lots of cases, there isn't significant overlap in customer base because 1) different brands have distinct markets in terms of cost, quality, and demographics, and 2) business travelers are often required to stay within a pre-determined set of hotels.

Although it may seem like hotel chains wouldn't want a franchise owner to run a competitive hotel, there are "firewalls" in place to protect proprietary information. For example, the list of customers who stay at a Holiday Inn would never get shared with a Hilton owned by the same company. Regardless of owner, each individual hotel really is a completely separate business.

YUP YUP, why I call the industry "the man behind the curtain" because holding companies own many and they own different brands. Like here there are car dealerships of all different brands that are owned by the same man. He just covers his bases in the area. They are like franchises but owned by holding companies in their portfolio. Kinda like if you owned stock in Disney and Comcast (Universal) - which I do.

Another example:
http://www.tishman.com/portfolio/?property_category_id=3