No one thought remaking the American hotel brand was going to be easy. With 3,200 Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express hotels worldwide (2,500 here in the Americas), the sheer volume makes it a daunting task. The ensuing economic meltdown hasn’t helped matters, but John Merkin, senior vice president brand management for the Holiday Inn Brands in the Americas, says the relaunch is still on pace and proving quite productive.

Eight hundred hotels will have the new look by the end of May and the target date for completion is still January 2010. Renovation costs from $50,000 to $150,000 per hotel, depending on size and whether it’s a Holiday Inn or an Express. IHG has made some concessions to help owners through the process, but the updated—and more stringent—quality evaluation process and the hard deadline of next January remain.

“When we announced this relaunch we rewrote a new quality evaluation that hit on and prioritized items that have the greatest impact on guest satisfaction,” Merkin says. “Not only do they have to pass, but some items are zero tolerance. It’s helping us sort out who is interested in going forward with the relaunch.”

Holiday Inn has removed approximately 1,000 hotels from its system over the past seven years and Merkin expects the yearly average to remain the same this year and then increase next year with the looming relaunch deadline. But with 1,100 hotels in the pipeline, room count will continue to grow.

“Our commitment to remove obsolete hotels from our system has opened up a lot of markets,” Merkin says. “By doing this renewal process, we’re dropping the worst from our system and are given an opportunity to bring in new and exciting properties. I think by the end of the rollout we’ll be one of the youngest midscale brands out there.”

Merkin took the time to answer more questions on the largest refresh ever undertaken in the lodging industry:

Why was now the time for this?

“It was definitely time. It was in the works since 2005. Inconsistency hurts when trying to go out and establish a brand in a fierce competitive set, with global clients. Without the consistency we weren’t going to gain market share. No. 2, we had to make sure we were growing with the owner and attracting the right types of owners…The company has said we’re in a renewal process. We’re committed; Holiday Inn is the most important asset this company owns. We sold off real estate and decided we’re a branding and management company. You have to have great brands and we’re firmly locked into this because it’s the future of our company. Holiday Inn facilitates a lot of good things for the other brands IHG has, it anchors our Priority Club Rewards system.”

What’s been the impact at the refreshed hotels?

“We’ve actually gained nice pace and momentum. A lot of hotels are really excited about it. We’ve been able to show through test properties there’s been a 6.5-percent RevPAR lift. And that’s primarily coming through occupancy…we’re gaining market share. The good news, as far as the relaunch is concerned, with the new signage and exterior lighting package, we’ve been able to create some excitement on the street corner and have hotels stand out.”

Where do you start in remaking 3,200 properties worldwide?

“We went first with properties that were most recently opened. We targeted ones that opened from 2006 and on. And all new hotels, they all come in with the new identity. From that point on it’s up to owner preference. We announced in October 2007 the deadline would be January 2010 and we reconfirmed that with hotels. We haven’t moved the date.”

Have you done anything to help owners out during these challenging times?

“One of the concessions we made was a nod to the economy: We pushed back the installation date of HDTVs, which was going to be Jan. 1, 2010, but we moved that date to 2011. In some instances the TVs were going to cost more than the signage and hallmarks would. We’ve also subsidized some fees: Before we were going to have certain fees passed onto hotels, but we decided in February we’d take those in house and absorb them…Fees for integration, the facilitation of how to get the signs up, the hallmarks put into the hotels. We have consultants working on the process, doing design work on the signage look at each hotel and since hotels were going to derive the benefit we thought we’d pass (the cost) onto hotels, but we decided to keep those fees in house. It’s $5,000 to $8,000 per property in savings. It’s a commitment we made to help keep the process going.”

Has the new look helped development and new-build projects?

“It’s been hugely important. Holiday Inn is now in the top five of new-build brands. Who would have thought a 57-year old brand would be in the top five. That’s not an accident.”