InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), which announced a new
midscale brand in June, has named the brand Avid Hotels and said the first one will
open in early 2019.
Avid Hotels will be sold as a franchise brand and its properties
will be designed to have about 100 rooms and require about 1.5 acres. The brand's
average daily rate will be $10 to $15 less than Holiday Inn Express, said IHG. Holiday
Inn Express' U.S. properties had an average daily rate of $112 a night last
year.
The hotels will offer complimentary breakfast and WiFi that
will be "the fastest speed in the industry."
More than 150 owners of current IHG hotels have expressed
interest in developing Avid properties, IHG said. Avid rooms will average about
250 square feet.
IHG's currently has one midscale brand: extended-stay chain
Candlewood Suites. Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express are classified as
upper-midscale.
IHG made its June announcement of its new midscale brand
about a month after Hilton opened its first Tru by Hilton midscale hotel in
Oklahoma City. Tru hotels also are being designed in the 100-room range, with daily
rates at about $95.