Holiday Inn Express Rio Branco Breaks Ground in Brazil

IHG, Latin America’s most experienced international hotel company, announced that the Holiday Inn Express Rio Branco in Brazil has broken ground.  The new-build hotel is scheduled to open in late 2013, just in time for the forthcoming FIFA World Cup in Brazil. When the property opens, it will be IHG’s first hotel in Rio Branco.

The 110-room Holiday Inn Express Rio Branco is owned by Inter Oceanica Hotelaria Ltda under a license agreement with a company in the InterContinental Hotels Group. The hotel will be suitably located in the center of Rio Branco’s downtown area within close distance to multiple tourist attractions. The nine-story hotel will boast four meeting rooms, an outdoor pool, bar, a fully-equipped business center and gym.

Rio Branco, the capital of the northwest Brazilian state of Acre and the most populated county in the state, was chosen to be a site of Transoceanic Highway, a major project that connects Rio Branco to the two main ports in Peru. This encourages trade between Peru and Brazil and opens a market for importing food products and building materials, which Peru is eagerly anticipating, especially with the construction boom and the infrastructure projects that are currently underway for the FIFA World Cup 2014.

The hotel will feature the complimentary Express Start breakfast bar with a full range of breakfast items, including a rotation of egg and meat selections, biscuits, yogurt, fruit and the brand’s proprietary cinnamon roll and Smart Roast coffee.  

The SimplySmart shower will incorporate 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 enjoy the SimplySmart 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.

Latin America’s rapidly rising middle class is leading the hotel industry to experience strong growth across the region, as international and intra-country travel is significantly increasing. A positive supply-and-demand outlook offers IHG-branded hotels a great opportunity to expand in many potential markets.

IHG currently has 13 hotels in nine cities in Brazil, including one InterContinental Hotel, two Crowne Plaza Hotels, five Holiday Inn Hotels and four Holiday Inn Express properties and one Staybridge Suites. Most recently, the Holiday Inn Express Maceio Ponta Verde opened one block from beautiful Ponta Verde beach in Maceio in Northeast Brazil. The Holiday Inn Express Belem is scheduled to open later this year and will be located in Belem, the entrance gate to the Amazon.

Located in major urban centers, gateway cities and resort destinations, there are 19 Holiday Inn Express hotels in Latin America and the Caribbean while Holiday Inn has 24 hotels in the region.