IHG launches new upscale ‘conversion brand’ voco – but what is a ‘conversion brand’?
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IHG has announced a new upscale brand which will join its hotel portfolio later this year: voco.
The word voco is latin and means to invite, to call together. The hotels are intended to ‘combine familiar comforts, with the indulgences of a hotel’.
Standard-wise voco hotels will be comparable to IHG’s Crowne Plaza brand and there are plans to have voco city centre hotels as well as resorts. It is likely that some of the UK Principal Hotel sites that IHG recently bought will be converted into voco.
voco is a conversion brand
Let me explain what this means ….
Most hotel brands come with a very long checklist of standards. Whether it is to do with minimum room sizes, 24 hour room service, the size of the beds, the provision of desks, the provision of a coffee maker, the requirement for showers to be ‘power showers’ etc, there is a long list of boxes which must be ticked.
‘Conversion brands’ do not need to tick any boxes. As long as they meet a general quality standard, they are ‘in’. There is also often no requirement to sign up to timetabled refurbishments. This makes them attractive to hotel owners who want to switch from their current brand.
Karin Sheppard, managing director of IHG Europe said about voco that the “Upscale segment of the hotel industry is a $40 billion opportunity and is set to grow by another $20 billion by 2025. It is one which we see the chance to extend through a conversion brand.”
As a conversion brand no two voco hotels will be the same. There is a list of requirements (including a bar), but no fixed brand standards. In the US, conversion brands are popular with hotels with external air conditioning units – you couldn’t become a Hilton if you had those, but you could become a DoubleTree. Stucco ceilings in rooms are also generally a ‘no no’.
Voco is comparable with Hilton’s DoubleTree brand where every guest knows that they can expect to receive a chocolate chip cookie at check in, but that’s about it.
Hotels that join the voco brand will only receive a small makeover including adding the recognisable voco colour and fabric scheme. Guests will receive a local welcome treat which will often be a yellow macaroon.
The voco website advertises its hotels as ‘reliable enough to depend on, but different enough to be fun’.
All hotels will have to comply with the three hallmarks (come on in, me time and voco life) and its mascots (finch, owl and flamingo).
The first voco hotel will be the Watermark Hotel and Spa Gold Coast in Australia later this year. IHG is striving to open around 200 hotels in the next 10 years, with the UK ex-Principal Hotel sites making up some of the early ones.
IHG One Rewards update – December 2024:
Get bonus points:
You will earn 3,000 bonus points for every two cash nights you stay between 19th September and 31st December 2024.
Nights to do not need to be consecutive. Read more in our article here and click here to register.
IHG is running a second promotion for stays at five of its smaller brands. You will receive triple base points between 1st October and 31st December 2024 on stays at voco, avid hotels, EVEN Hotels, Atwell Suites and Garner Hotels. Read more in our article here and click here to register.
New to IHG One Rewards? Read our overview of IHG One Rewards here and our article on points expiry rules here. Our article on ‘What are IHG One Rewards points worth?’ is here.
Buy points: If you need additional IHG One Rewards points, you can buy them here.
IHG One Rewards is offering a 100% bonus when you buy points by 13th December 2024. Your annual purchase limit is increased to 300,000 points plus the bonus. Click here to buy.
Want to earn more hotel points? Click here to see our complete list of promotions from IHG and the other major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.
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