IHG to open Holiday Inn Express in KL

InterContinental Hotels Group has signed an agreement with RB Capital to manage Kuala Lumpur’s first Holiday Inn Express, which will be built along Bukit Bintang by Amsterling Hotels Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of RB Capital.

The hotel will rise in one of KL’s busiest retail and entertainment belts. The site is across from iconic developments such as Lot 10, Pavilion Kuala Lumpur and Starhill Gallery, next to where RB Capital owns 33 Jalan Sultan Ismail, a twenty-six storey tower housing HSBC’s Malaysian headquarters.

The 200-room Holiday Inn Express Bukit Bintang is slated to open in 2015. The hotel will offer guests complimentary breakfast and complimentary WiFi throughout the hotel, a self-service business centre and gym as well as a lounge and bar.

The property will be located on Bukit Bintang, popular amongst both travellers and locals, with easy access to key business areas and a variety of entertainment options, ranging from cafes, restaurants to shopping malls.

“Holiday Inn Express is a well-established brand that meets the demand for an international standard hotel that offers fuss-free comfort, convenience and value in great locations,” said Jan Smits, Chief Executive for Asia, Middle East and Africa (AMEA) at IHG.

“The brand is growing strongly across the region, with a pipeline of over 50 hotels and more than 11,000 rooms in Asia Pacific alone. It’s a smart hotel choice for the savvy traveller, and we’re excited to continue our relationship with RB Capital in bringing Holiday Inn Express to Kuala Lumpur.”

Kishin R.K., CEO and founder of RB Capital Group, said: “The Holiday Inn Express brand resonates well with the rising number of mid-tier business and leisure travellers visiting this part of the world. With the soaring and steady growth we’ve seen in the tourism and hospitality sectors across Southeast Asia, we are certain there are opportunities for strong growth and development in this area. We see Kuala Lumpur as a particularly strong market, especially now that Malaysia has placed tourism high up on its policy agenda.”

RB Capital Hotels is the hotel arm of RB Capital Group. Holiday Inn Express Bukit Bintang is the second Holiday Inn Express hotel that RB Capital Hotels is building in partnership with IHG. The group is also building Holiday Inn Express Clarke Quay, the largest Holiday Inn Express hotel in Southeast Asia, which will open its doors in the first quarter of 2013.

RB Capital Group recently announced plans to list up to $2 billion of assets by 2013. The group owns prominent office and retail developments with offices in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. Some of the group’s properties include Southeast Asia’s largest Holiday Inn Express opposite Clarke Quay; the EFG Bank Building opposite Singapore’s Parliament House; RB Capital Building at Raffles Place (formerly known as Royal Brothers Building) and 33 Jalan Sultan Ismail, which houses the HSBC headquarters in Malaysia.

Globally, there are currently 2,103 Holiday Inn Express hotels located across major cities, with nearly 470 hotels under development. In Asia Pacific, the brand is expanding rapidly from its current 31 hotels and will open new hotels in Singapore, India, Thailand and Indonesia within the next few years. The first Holiday Inn Express in Southeast Asia is set to open in Bangkok early next year. There are 51 Holiday Inn Express hotels in the pipeline for Asia Pacific.