In the big hotel shakeup news of the day, the IHG portfolio is about to lose over 100 of their branded properties to the Sonesta hotel group. There is quite a mix of the different brands involved from IHG, but a big one is their flagship Crowne Plaza – the Crowne Plaza Atlanta Perimeter at Ravinia.
IHG is Losing Over 100 Properties
What Happened?
What has happened is that these properties are owned by Service Properties Trust, or SVC (as is typical with many hotels – they are not owned by the actual hotel group but by various investment firms instead).
These properties owned by SVC had been managed under the IHG flag for a while but they had not been able to make their payments in terms of minimums for July and August. That total sat at over $26 million. The due date for making good on that payment was August 24, 2020. Since IHG failed to make that payment, SVC has decided to change the management (and the branding that goes with it) over to Sonesta Hotels.
Sonesta hotels currently has just 80 hotels so this is going to be a huge grab for them in terms of growing their footprint. They have several different brands – Royal Sonesta, Sonesta, and Sonesta ES Suites. You can see (here) from which locations Sonesta will put the new properties under the various brands (but not which IHG properties).
When Will This Happen and Which Brands?
This changeover will take place on November 30, 2020. Typically, if you have a reservation with a hotel that is being branded under a different group, you would receive an e-mail with your options. It would normally be that your stay would be honored or that you would be offered a move to a different IHG property in the area. I am not sure how this will happen with IHG but hopefully they will look out for their customers in a fair way.
The makeup of IHG brands that are moving over are three InterContinental, five Kimpton Hotels, 11 Crowne Plaza, three Holiday Inn, 20 Staybridge Suites and 61 Candlewood Suites. For a full breakdown of which hotels will actually be moving, check out the heads-up list by Dave over at MilesTalk.
Of note on that list is the Crowne Plaza Atlanta Perimeter at Ravinia in Atlanta, GA. That is the hotel I was referring to in the title as the “Crowne” Jewel since it is the flagship Crowne Plaza hotel in the US. I did a full overview last year of the transformation it had made that would be a model for bringing Crowne Plaza properties up to a more modern existence. For IHG to lose this hotel has to hurt quite a bit.
Years ago, I had stayed at another hotel on the list – the Palomar in DC. That was an excellent hotel and I had always wanted to go back, especially after Kimpton came under IHG, but never made it.
It’s called Survival. Good call on IHG’s part, and Sonesta is going to simply pay these owners right off the bat, don’t think so
SVC is a part owner of Sonesta.
Charlie, you could give readers the wrong impression of SVC properties by mentioning that one hotel.
I’ve stayed at 3 of the Candlewoods on that list. They were the worst Candlewoods I had ever seen. Way, way overdue for renovations.