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IHG adds 100 German hotels in one day – and what it tells us about the state of the industry

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Monday was a busier-than-usual day for IHG Hotels & Resorts. It added over 100 hotels in Germany in one go, through a franchise deal with NOVUM Hospitality.

It will see two IHG brands – Candlewood Suites and Garner – make their debut in Europe. It will also see the introduction of a new sub-brand – Holiday Inn the niu.

The UK will gain one new hotel as ‘the niu Loom’ in Manchester is rebranded. There are also a handful of hotels across Austria and the Netherlands included.

IHG gains over 100 German hotels in one day

Why is this significant to the whole industry?

NOVUM Hospitality is not a small business. It is one of Europe’s largest privately owned hotel groups with its own established brands:

  • the niu – 43 hotels (3-4 star) in 31 cities
  • Select – 23 hotels (3-4 star) in 19 cities
  • Yggotel – a new Scandi-inspired chain
  • Novum – 35 hotels (3-4 star) in 17 cities
  • acora Living The City – 4-star apartment hotels in 12 cities

The group also operates two franchised hotels for Accor, one for Hilton and five for IHG. However, this has always been a very small part of the group.

And yet ….. NOVUM has thrown in the towel. It is abandoning its own brands (I suspect those initially called Holiday Inn the niu will become pure Holiday Inn hotels very quickly) and committing itself to paying chunky fees to IHG for every room sold for the next 30 years.

the niu properties will become Holiday Inn the niu. Select, Yggotel and Novum will become Garner hotels. acora Living The City will become Candlewood Suites sites.

This isn’t the only deal like this we’ve seen in the last year or so:

IHG gains over 100 German hotels in one day

What we are seeing is midscale European hotel operators admitting defeat when it comes to building their own brands and, importantly, distribution systems.

The loyalty programmes have driven this

Whilst you may think that Marriott, IHG, Hilton etc are competing against each other, what they are really doing is building a joint front against independent operators. The key thing driving this is the loyalty programmes.

When Marriott Bonvoy launched, it took a new approach to hotel loyalty. As far as Marriott is concerned, Marriott Bonvoy IS the business. It offers attractive perks and benefits to draw guests into its ecosystem, and with 34 brands to choose from you will find something suitable for every stay.

IHG eventually woke up and started taking loyalty equally seriously via IHG One Rewards. This is a real step change to the previous iteration of IHG Rewards.

Look at Accor. Again, Accor Live Limitless IS the business. Take a look at the Paris Saint Germain football kit for 2019 to 2022. It wasn’t the corporate Accor logo that appeared on the shirt front – it was Accor Live Limitless.

Both Marriott Bonvoy and Hilton Honors recently hit 200 million members. Whilst neither scheme is willing to admit what percentage of these 200 million people are ‘active’, you can’t deny that this is a huge potential audience.

Amazingly, Hilton claimed this week that 20% of all hotel rooms currently being built on the entire planet are contracted to one of its brands.

IHG gains over 100 German hotels in one day

What do you do if you are NOVUM Hospitality, building out your own brands like ‘the niu’ but finding you can’t cut through the noise made by the big boys?

In particular, what do you do when Expedia, Hotels.com, Booking.com etc demand 22% commission for selling your rooms on their platforms? Especially when your own website gets little traction and you have no loyalty programme? Suddenly those IHG fees don’t look too bad.

The NOVUM website may claim to have ‘5 million satisfied guests every year’ (no jokes about how many unsatisfied ones they have, please) but clearly it isn’t enough. NOVUM has decided that writing huge cheques to IHG every month for the next 30 years will make it more money overall.

Conclusion

NOVUM Hospitality may be the latest hotel group to abandon its own brands and its own disribution system but it won’t be the last.

The percentage of branded hotels in Europe is well below the percentage in the US. There are plenty more NOVUMs out there.

Will Scandic throw in the towel in Scandinavia (Hilton owned this once)? Ibis would make a good home for Germany’s InterCity brand. IHG’s Hotel Indigo brand is already a clone of Malmaison and Hotel du Vin in the UK and could integrate them overnight. Millennium & Copthorne has little traction these days. As for the hodge-podge of brands in the Thistle / The Cumberland / ex-Guoman portfolio …. You should expect more announcements like the IHG / NOVUM deal.

You can see the full press release here.

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IHG One Rewards news

IHG One Rewards update – April 2025:

Get bonus points: IHG is not currently running a global promotion.

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.

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Comments (93)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Stu_C says:
    17 Apr17 April 05:56

    Maybe some of these hotels would do better if they didn’t have such stupid names?

  • Backpacker says:
    17 Apr17 April 06:15

    Good article Rob – I always like both hearing these deals, and your business perspective on it. Much better than the random hotel reviews!

  • BBbetter says:
    17 Apr17 April 06:23

    7 hotels in a mid size Japanese chain reflagged as Marriotts.
    It’s not just European operators.

    • JP says:
      17 Apr17 April 09:02

      Admittedly, Japan is a slightly unique market where there’s split between domestic focused chains like APA and JR Hotels, v.s. chains that focus on foreigners.

    • Graeme says:
      17 Apr17 April 10:02

      Marriott did a similar deal in Vietnam recently too

    • TGLoyalty says:
      17 Apr17 April 12:46

      reflagged and refurbished?

      • Dev says:
        17 Apr17 April 18:06

        Morocco as well … I just did 5 nights in an all inclusive in Marrakesh flagged on paper as a Delta Hotel but in reality no mention of Marriott anywhere other than “Marriott Bonvoy” flashing across on the giant big screen every now and then. Clearly still on the early days of being reflagged as a Marriott hotel.

  • PeteM says:
    17 Apr17 April 06:41

    What I find very frustrating is finding that even after joining the loyalty programmes of these smaller chains, their “member” pricing is still often 30% (or more) higher than what the OTAs offer… And that’s before anything back from the usual portals or any loyalty points from the OTAs!

    • BBbetter says:
      17 Apr17 April 09:10

      Surely you can BRG them?

      • PeteM says:
        17 Apr17 April 14:04

        Really not worth the hassle, even if they offer it (most don’t). Why should I have to go out of my way to make them more money in any case…?

    • jannis says:
      17 Apr17 April 17:15

      AS ihg diamond, I get treated very well EVERY SINGLE STAY

    • Bagoly says:
      17 Apr17 April 19:16

      Yes, the small chains do seem to be a bit clueless.
      I guess the problem is that the hotels themselves are actively managing their prices on the OTAs, but regard the small chain agency as small beer.
      And the staff of the small chain agency are trying to justify their existence by charging more, without the power to discipline the hotels?
      One thing they would benefit from learning from the big chain agencies is that the “member” pricing was deliberately introduced to get around BRGs to the OTAs.

  • sturgeon says:
    17 Apr17 April 07:14

    Are the loyalty scheme benefits really that attractive for most customers to drive business to that chain? I chase air miles but haven’t particularly chased hotel points. However, my Amex Platinum has propelled me many rungs up the status ladder to a point I’d never achieve otherwise. I have 3-4 holidays a year and the longest is probably 10 nights. Racking up 25-30 or more nights at a single chain is a massive ask for a leisure traveler.

    The main issue is even after being on a fairly high tier now at Marriott for example thanks to Amex, pretty much every single benefit isn’t guaranteed. I generally expect to be denied an upgrade. A late checkout is almost always achievable by an hour or two without status. The only guaranteed benefit is Hilton breakfast. So if I was paying cash to earn these statuses over time, I’d be super disappointed with the benefits as most just aren’t guaranteed.

    Saying that I have a trip this week with a Radisson stay where an upgrade is meant to be guaranteed and a Marriott trip booked with Emyr which has no guaranteed upgrade but I believe this virtuoso booking has more sway than me using my own Marriott status to get an upgrade. We will see.

    • Spike Spiegel says:
      17 Apr17 April 07:19

      Rob has commented before on meaningless status benefits that are not guaranteed or written in stone – if they’re not guaranteed then you may as well consider them worthless as you’ve demonstrated.

    • BBbetter says:
      17 Apr17 April 07:30

      I find it interesting that people think everyone else is in the same situation as them. Sorry to burst your bubble, but gold status in Bonvoy is not a ‘high tier’. It’s a mid tier status.
      On the broader picture, Rob isn’t claiming everyone is gunning for top status on these schemes. The schemes are more attractive nowadays due to various factors – many still remember how OTAs abandoned them during covid; how it’s likely you end up with the worst room in your category if you book through OTAs; more credit cards (outside UK) supporting the schemes; decent periodic points offers, status offers, airline tie ups etc. You cannot even have a conversation about late checkout if you book with an OTA.
      As more people book direct, more money the chains can save on commissions to OTAs. I can see this moving in one direction only.

      • JDB says:
        17 Apr17 April 07:37

        There’s a distinction between booking ‘directly’ through the brand’s central reservations system (which usually has some cost to the hotel, albeit less than OTA commissions) and booking directly with an individual hotel.

      • sturgeon says:
        17 Apr17 April 08:06

        Burst my bubble? As if I think my status is elevated? I think the Gold Elite tier is practically worthless, it was the point of my post. Regardless, it may be mid tier but I’m sure most Marriott members have lower tiers. Besides business travellers I don’t expect most leisure travelers stay 25 nights a year in the same chain.

        • BBbetter says:
          17 Apr17 April 08:21

          The way you have written it sounds like you feel you are entitled to upgrades etc. I might have misunderstood, but even Ken below has read it the same way.

          In any case, my approach is some status is better than nothing. You have options to escalate things when they go wrong. Also you jump the queue (legally) when others have similar requests. Any benefits realised is a bonus on top.

        • Harry T says:
          17 Apr17 April 13:24

          Marriott Bonvoy Gold isn’t even mid tier btw. 25 nights is nothing as well. Sometimes I wonder if people here actually travel!

          • Ken says:
            17 Apr17 April 13:58

            Not sure why anyone would hit 25 nights just for leisure at Marriott though.

      • sturgeon says:
        17 Apr17 April 08:18

        Also the point about not even having a conversation about late checkout if booking via an OTA, what? I’ve booked 95% of rooms this way and a polite conversation at the right time secures late checkout pretty much every single occasion. Speak to a human, they’re not going to hurriedly pull up how you paid for your room to determine that decision. Most are reasonable and just want to give you a decent experience. Another reason I don’t see this benefit as a great one, bar booking via FHR or an agent who can guarantee a particularly late checkout at some hotels ie 4pm vs an hour or two extension.

    • Rob says:
      17 Apr17 April 07:39

      It’s not you, it’s about the hotel owners. They are Marriott’s customers.

    • Ken says:
      17 Apr17 April 07:42

      Presumably you are Gold at Marriott courtesy of Amex.
      This is not a ‘fairly high tier’.

      I’m not sure why people think hotels owe people much who have acquired status without staying, or think Gold sounds fantastic without realising there are 2 or 3 levels above that.

      The broader point would be that each of the mega chains have hundreds of millions of customers on their database- they can’t all have upgrades – loyalty schemes means giving micro benefits for most customers but doing it consistently.
      All my statuses are from Amex Platinum – but my expectations of what they get me are suitably low.

      • supergraeme says:
        17 Apr17 April 07:54

        Me too – but to the point that it’ll never push me to stay at one of those hotels.

      • sturgeon says:
        17 Apr17 April 08:14

        As above Gold is a fairly high tier due to the stay requirement. Obviously there are levels above this. As I noted I don’t think this tier has any worth. I have zero expectations.

        Your comment about earning status without staying, this means nothing to the hotel receptionist, they see you as en elite member or not. And yes it can sound compelling when it’s suggested you get upgrades, early/late checkout etc and more, that’s the whole point. I guess you have the highest level status and anyone beneath this is inferior.

        I don’t value most status unless the benefits are worthwhile for me specifically. I don’t care much about BA silver which most people on here chase as I’m not bothered about their lounge access, any additional Avios earning is paltry and I’m not directing my spend at BA just to unlock the ability to not pay a fortune to choose a seat.

        • Ken says:
          17 Apr17 April 09:09

          You seem a little vexed about this.
          I only have Gold at Marriott (through a Platinum I cancelled at least 3 years ago).

          Do I think it’s inferior to Platinum, Titanium or Ambassador ? Well despite never hitting those heights myself, I would say yes Gold is inferior.

          If you get something for ‘free’ don’t be too surprised if 90% of the time it has little value.

          Once you accept that Marriott Gold an upgrade might mean an identical room but on the 8th floor with a better view than the 3rd floor you won’t feel disappointed.

          The only thing compelling about Gold is the name.

          I personally think that people earning Gold through actual stays (and I rarely pay to stay at Marriott) rather than credit card freebies should get better upgrades, but hotels run their business as they wish.

    • Harry T says:
      17 Apr17 April 13:22

      Marriott Gold is barely above pond scum in the Bonvoy hierarchy, with few guaranteed benefits.

  • x2000traveller says:
    17 Apr17 April 07:33

    But, in effect, the hotels are creating rival booking platforms to booking, hotels.com etc….. Just look at the range of properties now available on IHG and Bonvoy in particular, so they are seeking a share of the 15%(?) commission rates that the non-hotel platforms charge. Direct booking is definitely be the way to go, at least for us in the SME crowd!

    • john says:
      17 Apr17 April 09:34

      Maybe hotel websites will become a general marketplace and start listing independent hotels too soon…

      Although I think this has negative effects for user experience. The B&Q website became fairly useless once it became a marketplace for random stuff they don’t stock in store.

  • Bervios says:
    17 Apr17 April 07:33

    I’ve stayed at a couple of Novum’s in Berlin. They are pretty dire.

    • supergraeme says:
      17 Apr17 April 07:59

      I’ve stayed at a handful around Germany as well, and ‘dire’ is a very fair description. They very much need a spruce-up.

  • tw33ty says:
    17 Apr17 April 07:46

    I said at the start of the year this would be a busy year for the big boys taking things over.

    Malmaison and hotel de vin are ripe for the picking, but I also think minor hotel group, owners of NH hotels, but I’m surprised Vincci hotels haven’t been snapped up already.

    The trouble is though, we think all this gives us more earning opportunities, in reality, there will be less competition, and the big boys are more likely to devalue the loyalty programs as there will only be a few huge groups to choose from, it’s a double edged sword really.

    • BBbetter says:
      17 Apr17 April 09:20

      Its not a new thing though. Its a gradual transition towards scale and the first movers will have the advantage.
      Whats slightly changed recently is higher interest rates are pushing companies to re-evaluate business models and clean up rather than just sticking to assets with low returns.

      • tw33ty says:
        17 Apr17 April 10:43

        You’re right, they do happen previously, but this time it’s different.

        Lots of groups have built up a chunky debt pile, now with rates going up, costs rising, it’s now effectively become a buyers market.

    • TGLoyalty says:
      17 Apr17 April 12:55

      I actually think its cyclical hotels are ready to make big investments (because they’re dire) so feel like they get the most out of aligning to a brand and its design/buying power etc while others have fallen out of favour and think they can rinse the asset for a far few more years yet without any capex investment to refresh so drop out of change brand to something with lower standards.

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