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From
what began as a vision of a man frustrated at the quality of
roadside motels, Holiday Inn has grown into one of the most
famous hotel brands in the world. Today there are over a 1,000
Holiday Inns across the United States, and even more the world
over.
In
1951, Kemmons Wilson, a Memphis entrepreneur, took a family
vacation to Washington DC, and was appalled at the quality of
the roadside inns. He had repeatedly encountered uncomfortable,
inconsistent and overpriced accommodations, which were greasy
and sleazy as well. He vowed to his wife that he would build
a chain of hotels which would be clean and where children could
stay free. He immediately began work on his blueprints, and
by August 1952, the first Holiday Inn hotel was opened on a
roadside location in Memphis, Tennessee. This hotel had 120
guest rooms, each with a private bathroom, air conditioning
and a telephone. Additional features included a swimming pool,
free ice cubes, free parking and dog kennels. Children under
19 years old could stay free in their parents' room. These features
were revolutionary in those days, and it wasn’t long before
it became a great success. Wilson followed up with identical
ones on three other roads leading into Memphis.
By
1972, Wilson had outdistanced his nearest competitor in the
same market more than three-fold with 1,405 inns in the United
States and around the world. Each of these Inns boasted air-conditioned
rooms, restaurants, meeting rooms, pools, television, direct
dial telephone service, piped music and radio, wall to wall
carpeting, and cocktail lounges. They had become very popular
among millions of road weary business travelers and harried
families.
"He
(Wilson) expanded the hospitality industry with innovation"
(Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton), and his contacts and ability
to raise money fueled the chain's growth. At its peak, a new
Holiday Inn was opening somewhere in the world every 2 1/2 days.
By the 1990’s it had already grown into one of the largest
hotel chains in the world.
In
the year 2004, Holiday Inn became a member of InterContinental
Hotels Group, a leading global hospitality group, with more
than 3,500 hotels and 536,000 guest rooms across nearly 100
countries and territories.
There
is a Holiday Inn in Waikiki, Oahu, as well - the Holiday Inn
Waikiki.
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Hotels
are listed in
three ways: alphabetically,
by hotel chain,
and by location.
To find a hotel
by chain click
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