NEW YORK -- Holiday Inn is striding into the 21st century with a
high-tech, touch-screen restaurant menu while bringing back its
iconic, green-striped towel and updating its orange-and-green logo.
These elements, along with the new Kemm's Cafe -- which serves
comfort food and sells branded specialities -- are part of the
prototype, 143-room Holiday Inn Gwinnett Center that recently
opened in Duluth, Ga.
Mark Snyder, senior vice president, brand management for Holiday
Inn in North America, said the chain came up with the new model to
attract developers while responding to customer preferences.
First, the technology: Recalling that Holiday Inn was a
res-system pioneer with Holidex, Snyder said the chain has done it
again, introducing an 8-by-10-inch, touch-screen computer tablet --
called the e-Menu for now -- that guests will first see in Kemm's
Cafe.
Guests can order from a list of familiar foods (chicken, ribs,
meat loaf, spaghetti, etc.); the system includes photos of each
item and a running tab. The wireless e-Menu also can be used to
browse the Internet, get information about the hotel itself and
provide feedback through a survey.
Snyder said he eventually can see customers using the tablet for
checkout or for room service orders, and Holiday Inn will use the
technology to integrate reservations and other systems.
Snyder said the combination of simple food and the technology
means the 50-seat Kemm's requires one-third the staff of facilities
the same size. He added that 98% of the entire building is
revenue-generating.
As for other features, the green-striped towel will be part of a
design mix that includes artwork using images from Holiday Inn's
history -- plus newer, "Pottery Barn-esque" furnishings (faux
leather ottomans, for example).
All rooms have high-speed Web access and Wi-Fi capability,
Snyder said, and this feature is expected to be adopted as a
standard for all U.S. franchisees, with installation by year's
end.
As for signage, if the new "Great Sign" -- meant to be
recognizable at dusk by drivers -gets the response Holiday Inn
hopes for, it, too, will become standard for the chain.
Kemm's Cafe is named for Holiday Inn founder Kemmons Wilson, and
the associated bottled sauces and salad dressings to be offered for
sale will be labeled Kemm's Collection.
After tweaking based on customer response, the first developer's
site is to open in late 2004 in College Station, Texas, followed by
another 24 in the next two years, including properties in
Tallahassee, Fla., and Amarillo, Texas.
Sprucing up the brand is counterpoint to dropping properties
that don't represent the brand well, and that's what the group did
in 2003. It scratched 35 hotels, Snyder said.
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