IHG Hotels & Resorts

The origins of the business can be traced back to 1777, when William Bass established the Bass Brewery in Burton-upon-Trent. In 1875, its red triangle logo was the first ever trademark registered in the United Kingdom.[5]

The company later changed its name and, in 1969, Bass Charrington, as it was known at the time, launched the Crest Hotel chain, marking its first entry into the lodging sector.[6]

In 1988, the British government limited the number of pubs which brewers could directly own, resulting in Bass's further investing in the expansion of its hotel business. This led to it purchasing Holiday Inn International from shareholders.[5]

Pan American Airways founder Juan Trippe established the American Intercontinental Hotels chain as a division of Pan Am and opened the first hotel in Belém, Brazil in 1946. On 19 August 1981, Pan Am sold the holding company Inter-Continental Hotels Corporation (IHC) to UK-based Grand Metropolitan for $500 million.[7] As GrandMet focused its core business and expanded into fast food through the purchase of Burger King, it sold IHC to the Japanese-based Saison Group in 1988.[8]

In March 1998, Saison Group sold IHC to the British brewery Bass. In 2000, Bass sold its brewing assets (and the rights to the Bass name) to the Belgian brewer Interbrew for £2.3 billion and changed its name to Six Continents.[5]

In 2003, the independent corporation InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) was created after Six Continents split into two companies: Mitchells & Butlers took control of the restaurant assets,[9] while IHG focused on hotels and soft drinks.[5] IHG retained Britvic, the soft drinks division, until December 2005 when it sold its interest in the company by an initial public offering.[10]

In April 2017, the company announced that it been the subject of a malware attack and hackers had stolen credit card details.[11]

The InterContinental Hotels Group became the target of an international boycott campaign in May 2013, over their plan to operate an Intercontinental-brand luxury hotel in Lhasa, Tibet. According to campaigners from the Free Tibet campaign, the hotel was a "PR coup for the Chinese government".[18]

In July 2012, the Office of Fair Trading alleged that IHG had broken competition law by preventing online travel agents from discounting the price of room-only hotel accommodation. In February 2014, IHG agreed to end the practice of price fixing.[19]

In February 2017, the hotel chain admitted to a data breach. They asserted that the compromise was minor, having impacted 12 properties. However, in April 2017 it raised the number to 1,200 hotels. The attackers had installed malware designed to access payment card data, which could be used to clone cards and make fraudulent payments.[20]

In May 2012, the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) warned IHG that it must not use adverts showing prices for hotel rooms excluding VAT. Because the ASA thought the adverts were likely to be viewed by consumers who must pay VAT, it had decided the adverts were misleading. It ordered IHG that the ads must not appear in their current form again. However, in August 2012, a report by Which? magazine showed that the hotel chain was still breaching VAT rules.[21]

In November 2017, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, accused the hotel chain of reneging on a commitment to pay the living wage.[22]

In July 2016 Intercontinental Adelaide was responsible for giving at least 70 diners salmonella food poisoning. Twenty-one of these people had to be treated at hospital.[23]

In September 2017 a consumer rights group accused Intercontinental Beijing Sanlitun of substandard hygiene conditions. Specifically during an undercover operation they had marked bed linen and toilets with an invisible stamp. Upon returning the next day the marks were still there.[24]

In April 2015 IHG changed the terms and conditions of their Priority Club. Up until then the points were awarded for life and members were told that they would never expire. Following the change, points will now expire if no 'earn' or 'redeem' activity occurs within 12 consecutive months. Many of those members never received any communication about the change and their points expired.[25]

• Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas
• Regent Hotels & Resorts
• InterContinental Hotels & Resorts

• Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants
• Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts
• EVEN Hotels
• Hotel Indigo
• Hualuxe Hotels & Resorts
• voco

• Avid Hotels
• Candlewood Suites
• Holiday Inn
• Holiday Inn Club Vacations
• Holiday Inn Express
• Holiday Inn Resort
• Staybridge Suites
• Atwell Suites