Holiday Inn Express, part of the Intercontinental Group of Hotel (IHG) that’s popular across the globe.  The IHG group has 12 brands of hotels in 100 countries.  They have nearly 5000 hotels across the globe.  The popular ones that most of us are aware of includes the Intercontinental, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites and Crowne Plaza.  The group has few more brands like Kimpton, Hotel Indigo, Even, Hualuxe, Candlewood Suites and more.  In Bangalore, they 3 properties including – Holiday Inn & Suites in Whitefield, Crowne Plaza in Electronic City and the latest Holiday Inn Express at Race Course Road.

Express Theme

Holiday Inn Express properties across the world are meant for smart travellers who want to pay for the room and not for the additional facilities.  These hotels have good rooms with all the amenities and facilities including – Wi-Fi, Coffee Maker, Lockers, Mini-bar.  But they don’t have a functional kitchen and restaurant inside the hotel.  The concept suits people, who visit the city of business or leisure for few days or over a month.  But they do have a small coffee shop where morning breakfast served complimentary.  Popular in US, Europe & other countries, inspired the IHG to open in Bangalore.  The Holiday Inn Express property in Bangalore was started couple of months back and has received decent response.

Rooms

Property has nearly 274 rooms which includes 22 suite rooms.  Basic room comes with internet access, self-parking and other basic amenities.   Some of the room also come with balcony that faces the Bangalore Turf Club.  These room come at slightly higher premium price.  The suite room are 1 BHK, meant for guests traveling with family.  These room have 3 beds, sofa, 2 bathrooms and balcony.  Every room looks well organized and neat.

Facilities

The hotel also has banquet hall that can host get together or meeting for 100-150 people.  Swimming pool located on the 19^th floor, looks beautiful and has spectacular view of Bangalore city.  One can see some of the important destinations like VIdhana Soudha, Cubbon Park, UB City, Shangrila hotel, Prestige Trace Centre, new Mantri building, Conrad hotel and the Bangalore Turf Club.  In the same hotel complex, 24-hours Café Coffee day present in the ground-floor will cater to guests living inside as well as outsiders.

Nearby Places

The location of the hotel has been chosen with a lot of thought.  It’s very close to the Central Business District in Bangalore, Main City Railways Station, Shopping Area, Heritages Spots and most importantly, bang opposite to Bangalore Turf Club.  This strategic location acts as big boon to the hotel as there would be plenty of travellers seeking good place to stay.

Bangalore Turf Club

Bangalore Turf Club, undoubtedly one of the iconic places in Bangalore that hosts multiple races. The property houses a huge stud-farm and houses nearly 100 horses.  Horse lovers invest big in the horses and let them compete in races.  There are many folks who love horses and bet on them.  Each of the horses have trainers who might also be jockeys and they stay in the stud farm.  The trainers take the horses for walk/jog/sprint early in the morning.  Holiday Inn Express has strategically picked up the right spot to setup their property.

Overall Experience

Overall the Holiday Inn Express property suits the needs for travellers coming down Bangalore.  The new concept has seen decent acceptance, but they want to change the model.  They want to also come up with a restaurant and bar which will enable guests to have variety of dining options.  It will then enable outsider to come and have a dining experience.  This property in Bangalore will become one of the very popular locations to stay for many travellers going forward.