ATLANTA (Oct. 11, 2010) � IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) [LON: IHG, NYSE: IHG (ADRs)], the world's largest hotel group by number of rooms, announced the recent opening of the Holiday Inn Express Staten Island, conveniently located near the three major metropolitan area airports and Interstate 95. The new hotel, with a meeting room and business center as well as a Nordic Track Fitness Center, is designed to meet the needs of those visiting the area on vacation or on business.

The Holiday Inn Express Staten Island is owned by HIE Staten Island Holdings and managed by M&R Hotel Group under a licensing agreement with a company in the InterContinental Hotels Group. M&R Hotel Group also owns and manages the Holiday Inn Express LaGuardia Airport and the Holiday Inn Express JFK Airport. 

Located in the heart of Staten Island (300 Wild Avenue), the brand new Holiday Inn Express is at a prime location for both leisure and business travelers. Guests can visit the nearby Staten Island attractions including the Arts & Science Museum, the National Lighthouse Museum and the Staten Island Zoo. Guests can also board the Staten Island Ferry at the nearby terminal and arrive in lower Manhattan after a short ride which passes by the Statue of Liberty.

The Holiday Inn Express Staten Island is also close to the Teleport and Business Park of Staten Island, Wagner College, the University of Staten Island and Staten Island University Hospital. Featuring high-speed wireless and wired Internet connections in each room in addition to a business center, the hotel offers meeting space that can be used as a classroom, boardroom or auditorium for up to 70 people.

Guests at the five-story 95-room Holiday Inn Express will experience a comfortable and smart environment with innovative preferred guest upgrades to ensure a pleasant stay while traveling for business or leisure. The new hotel features a state-of-the art fitness center, 24-hour business center and breakfast facilities where a complimentary hot breakfast buffet is served.  The hotel also offers free parking and complimentary USA Today newspapers. 

All guest rooms include 35� flat-screen televisions and the SimplySmart� shower, which incorporates a proprietary Stay Smart� Kohler showerhead, signature shower curtain with curved rod, upgraded 100 percent cotton terry towels and a custom line of cinnamon-scented bath products.  Guests will also enjoy the SimplySmartTM bedding collection where they will find new, crisp fresh bedding, which features an attractive decorative throw, a medium-weight duvet blanket and soft 200 thread-count sheets. 

�Holiday Inn Express hotels are designed to be the smart choice for value-conscious business and leisure travelers,� said Gina LaBarre, vice president, Brand Delivery, the Americas, IHG. �With more than 2,100 properties worldwide and more than 600 properties in the pipeline, the Holiday Inn Express portfolio continues to expand in markets like Staten Island, providing our guests with an enhanced stay experience at a great value.  We welcome this hotel into the Holiday Inn family with the brand new sign and everything it represents.�

�The Holiday Inn Express Staten Island is in a good position to accommodate the growing market of 1.5 million tourists who take the Staten Island Ferry annually with fantastic service and new amenities throughout the hotel�, said Amit Gandhi, president M&R Hospitality Management. �Staten Island has an abundance of parks, cultural attractions and fine dining and by increasing quality accommodations for our visitors, the notion that Staten Island is a tourist friendly borough is reinforced,� said Gandhi.

The Holiday Inn Express Staten Island features the brand�s new logo, which is the seal of approval that it exemplifies the standards of the $1 billion Holiday Inn brand relaunch program. First announced in 2007, the Holiday Inn global brand relaunch was established to create a more contemporary brand image � improving quality and driving consistency across the global portfolio. The global estate of more than 3,400 Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express properties are expected to be relaunched by the end of 2010, and more than 2,700 hotels have already been relaunched to date.

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)] is the world's largest hotel group by number of rooms.  IHG franchises, leases, manages or owns, through various subsidiaries, over 4,500 hotels and more than 650,000 guest rooms in 100 countries and territories around the world.