IHG Hotels & Resorts has agreed to launch its globally successful Holiday Inn Express brand in Egypt, building on an established presence with four other members of the group’s brand portfolio already successfully operating.
Growth of the new arrival will be in the hands of IHG’s longstanding partner in Egypt, developer Arkan Palm for Real Estate Investment. The local partner will deliver the first property, Holiday Inn Express West Cairo 205 for an opening in 2027. It will fit into a part of the greater Cairo region that offers visitors easy access to popular attractions and historic monuments, including the Pyramids and Grand Egyptian Museum.
A global brand success
Holiday Inn Express is the group’s fastest growing hotel brand, and has grown over the years to more than 3,100 hotels around the world. As a lower cost, affordable alternative to Holiday Inn, it offers a simple place to rest and refuel, for both leisure and business travellers.
IHG’s partnership with Arkan Palm for Real Estate Investment has grown over recent years. The pair successfully launched the Crowne Plaza in West Cairo together in 2022, and that hotel has subsequently become one of the brand’s flagships in the Middle East. Arkan is currently at work on two hotels in West Cairo 205, a 250 room InterContinental hotel that will open in 2028 and a Voco branded hotel with 140 suites, which will complete in 2026.
Holiday Inn Express becomes the fifth IHG brand to launch in Egypt, following the success of InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and the extended stay brand Staybridge Suites. And the project joins an impressive and growing pipeline for IHG across Egypt, as the country’s government encourages private partners to drive forward its National Tourism Strategy.
Additions for the Hotel Indigo lifestyle brand include El Dabaa on the north coast, and in 2026 the opening of the 200 room Hotel Indigo Mountain View icity New Cairo. In 2028, Indigos in 6th of October City and Ain Sokhna are due to open.
Dual development
In the Giza Sun Capital district of Cairo, work is under way on a dual branded hotel project combining a Holiday Inn and Staybridge Suites. Due to open in late 2025, the project will have 200 hotel rooms and a further 150 long stay studios and apartments; many of the rooms will have rooms giving guests a direct view of the Pyramids.
For the Crowne Plaza brand, there are three pipeline projects. In 2026, the Crowne Plaza Cairo Arabella Clubhouse will open, with 146 rooms in the family-friendly Arabella Compound, which is close to business parks and universities. This will be followed in 2028 by two additions, Crowne Plaza New Cairo Yellow and Crowne Plaza Cairo New Administrative Capital, each being built with 150 rooms and a full range of supporting amenities including meeting and event space.
