Simple yet smart defines the rebranded Holiday Inn Express.

Smart, simple and savvy travelers will find a welcoming new home in Holiday Inn Express Manila Newport City (HIEx).

The hassle-free hotel is positioned as the practical choice for the otherwise luxury-seeking market that frequents Resorts World Manila’s (RWM) portfolio of hotels — the all-suite Maxims Hotel, the five-star Marriott Hotel Manila and Belmont Hotel Manila, and the still-under-construction Sheraton Hotel Manila, Hotel Okura Manila and Hilton Manila Hotel.

HIEx, however, is quite different from the Holiday Inns in Ortigas and Makati. “Holiday Inn is a full-service hotel.

Holiday Inn Express is a limited-service concept. We call it a limited service concept in the sense that HIEx offers good products—all the things that a traveler or guest needs in a hotel—but we limit certain services,” explains H. T. Chea, the Malaysian general manager, during the soft opening earlier this month.

Chea cites as an example one’s experience when one goes to coffee shops “You go to the counter, you order and you pay for your coffee. Then they make the coffee. We do the same thing here. So we don’t actually wait and serve at the table whether you want a drink or food,” he says. “We don’t have room service. If you want food, we have an outside party you can call and they’ll deliver the food. Or you call the lobby cafe and come down to collect your food.”

A second example is about the trolleys. “As much as possible, the guests take the trolleys to get their own luggage.

You wheel the trolley yourself like what you see at the airport,” Chea continues. “That’s two of the differences between Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express.”

HIEx used to be the Remington Hotel. The transition process has been going on for more than a year and may well continue until 2019. The first to be upgraded was the software system at the front desk, with the Remington reservations transferred to Express.

“We also have to educate and retrain the staff. For instance, one staff member at the Food and Beverage outlet used to be a bellman. It took some time to train him to take orders and all,” Chea shares. “It’s the same with other departments. They are trained to do a lot of multitasking because the hotel works on a very tight manpower.”

People at the front desk can help in other areas when they are needed. The employees also have trainings in the code of conduct: How the staff should conduct themselves;what the company believes in; conservation of environment; anti-bribery; and anti-corruption.

Three floors have already been renovated. “We will renovate the whole lobby, fully 100 percent. So if you come back in six to eight months, you will see a brand new place here. You won’t even recognize it. I can guarantee you. it will be a totally fabulous hotel,” Chea assures.

All rooms, once the renovation is complete, will feature bedside USB charging ports, high speed Wi-Fi routers, blackout curtains, comfortable bedding, en-suite bathroom with hot and cold power shower, universal power sockets, in-room safe, flat-screen television, seating area, refrigerator and hairdryer.

There is a gym, meeting room, coin-operated laundry, 24-hour dining at the lobby café for breakfast buffet or a Grab & Go packed breakfast if they need to rush. The Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 is a 10-minute walk away via the Runway Manila bridge, a short ride to and from Terminals 1 and 2 via the free RWM airport shuttle, and is also close to the Skyway to Makati Central Business District or the Mall of Asia. Global brand of service

HIEx is part of the InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (IHG), which has a global presence of 5,367 hotels and 799,923 rooms worldwide. The Manila location, with more than 700 rooms, is the first in the Philippines. The group includes InterContinental Hotels and Resorts, Regent Hotels, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Kimpton, Even, HuaLuxe, Avid and Staybridge Suites.

The global group has an IHG Rewards Club. “It is the biggest hotel membership in the world with more than 100 million members,” Chea boasts. “So the staff also has to be trained on what this is, how it works, how to recruit people and how to serve the members.”

Every day, Chea estimates about 20 to 50 rooms are booked by IHG Rewards members. “That’s a segment that never came before. A year ago, maybe about five or 10 members will book. We expect to grow. In a typical IHG hotel, 30 to 50 percent are members, maybe up to a 100 percent,” he says.

“The reason Resorts World is converting this hotel from Remington to Holiday Inn Express is they want to raise the standards. First, they want brand awareness for Resorts World itself. We, as part of the mission/vision of Resorts World, are going to have higher standards and better products,” Chea says. “When this hotel was first built, it was catering to a lot of transit guests. The rooms were very basic. I wasn’t here during that time, but I was told there was hardly anything in the rooms, only very simple linens and very simple towels. The products in the hotel are now totally different.”

Holiday Inn Express is well-known among travelers in Southeast Asia, with five or more hotels in Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia. Chea is optimistic that once travelers to those countries learn of a HIEx in Manila, they’d stay here as well.

Chea is not bothered by Resorts World’s high-profile properties.

“Each hotel has a slightly different market. We do overlap in certain areas. But there are different types of travelers. There are some who want to be pampered and who want five-star accommodations so maybe they will not stay here,” he says. “Of course, there’s some competition, but we also complement each other because we cater to a slightly different market. Our slogan is ‘Simple, smart travel. We give our guests everything they need and more where it matters most.’ The basic and most important things are there.”

Quite rhetorically, he asks: “When you sleep in a bed, do you need eight pillows? You don’t probably need eight pillows, right? But some five-star hotels put six or eight pillows. You don’t need all that, but you actually pay for it.

We don’t do all that because we give you the basics–two soft pillows, two hard pillows.”

Guests also get a comfortable bed, good quality linen — all 100 percent cotton — and clean towels. HIEx, Chea stresses, has guests who appreciate the good things but can do things by themselves, like the millennials, the Gen Y and the independent travelers.

“[At Resorts World], we compete, but we also complement each other. And because we are all under the same owner, the sales and marketing group actually markets the whole place,” Chea says. “We attract big groups here and we share in it. We are limited service, fast, express, no frills, but what you need is there. That’s our market.”

Visit www.ihg.com/holidayinnexpress and www.rwmanila.com to see all accommodation options within RWM. For inquiries and reservations, call the Tourist/Visitor Hotline at +632 908-8000.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.