Skift Take
With new hotel brands popping up every day, it can be a challenge to establish name recognition among consumers. That's one challenge InterContinental Hotels Group doesn't have to deal with as it works to revive the Regent brand.
Regent Hotels & Resorts may be the most prestigious luxury hotel brand you’ve never gotten a handle on, but InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) hopes to change that.
Since IHG purchased a 51 percent stake in Regent last year — with the right to acquire the remaining 49 percent interest starting in 2026 — the company has been working on ways to reimagine the nearly 50-year-old brand and to spread its flag around the world.
There are currently only six Regent hotels open in five countries. IHG’s intention, however, is to grow the brand to more than 40 hotels worldwide. Four properties are already in the pipeline, including new builds in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam and a reflag in Hong Kong (more on that in a minute).
Tom Rowntree, IHG’s vice president, luxury brands, said the company made the purchase to fill a major gap at the top end of its portfolio.
"We identified from consumer demand that we needed a brand above InterContinental, a brand that would compete with Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, Ritz-Carlton, and The Peninsula,
