We are so excited that IHG® Army Hotels is celebrating 15 years of providing the finest accommodations and hospitality for the military community. Since 2009, we’ve redefined what on-post lodging can be.
Under the Privatization of Army Lodging (PAL) program, we’ve partnered with Rest Easy to build new hotels and renovate existing properties so that our guests can experience the same quality they expect from our hotel brands off post. We’ve spent more than $1 billion on construction and renovation to make military lodging more comfortable and convenient than ever before. We provide amenities like complimentary hot breakfast, free guest laundry, weekly barbecue socials, free high-speed internet, and pet-friendly accommodations. Plus, our guests can earn IHG® One Rewards points they can redeem at IHG Hotels and Resorts worldwide. To date, our guests have earned nearly 7 billion points.
Our first branded IHG Army Hotel was Holiday Inn Express® on Fort Johnson (formerly Fort Polk). We now manage and operate more than 70 hotels inside 40 U.S. Army installations across the country, with well-loved brands that include Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites®, Candlewood Suites®, and our renowned Historia Collection ™. From overnight trips to extended stays, we cater to the unique needs of military travel.
Fifteen years of business has had a major impact on our guests and the Army itself. Since our room rates are capped at 80% of the per diem (aggregated), one of our biggest accomplishments is how much we’ve saved the Army—approximately $85 million annually, with an estimated savings of $4.3 billion projected over the life of the PAL program. We’ve also committed to making sure the program is self-sustaining by reinvesting 43 cents of every dollar into our hotels, with more than $5 billion to be reinvested over the next 50 years.
As members of the military community, we’re also dedicated to providing service members and their families with True Hospitality. Since 2009, we’ve raised nearly $800,000 for the Fisher House Network of Homes. In 2021, we began making contributions to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation and have raised close to $375,000 so far. We also support local post communities as well as Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) efforts by investing more than $300,000 in them each year.
Being a part of the military community also means providing opportunities. IHG Army Hotels employs 1,800 people and many of our colleagues are veterans or members of military families. They know all about military travel because they’ve done it themselves, and they’re a crucial part of what might be our biggest success: guest satisfaction.
As of last quarter, we earned a 4.45 out of 5 in Overall Satisfaction scores, with 67% of guests scoring us 5 out of 5. Our hotels have also been awarded 5 out of 5 stars in the Garrison Commander Evaluation Metric since 2017.
We’re proud of our successes so far and we’re always working with an eye toward the future. It’s why several of our new Candlewood Suites hotels are built with Cross-Laminated Timber, which is composed of renewable materials that store carbon. CLT surpasses traditional building methods for sustainability while offering maximized strength and durability.
Looking to the future also means investing in the next generation. In 2016, we launched a summer internship called IHG Army Hotels Teen Academy. The program gives dependents of hotel colleagues and post personnel, ages 14 – 17, a chance to gain real world experience and earn money as seasonal employees in the hospitality industry.
It’s been an honor to provide our 5-star hospitality to DoD, service members, veterans, and families the last 15 years. Privatization has enabled us to make vast improvements to Army lodging and we support the expansion of that privatization to all branches of the military.
Thank you for choosing IHG Army Hotels. We look forward to serving you again soon.
Charles “Chuck” Sourbeer is Vice President of Operations for IHG® Army Hotels. He has been with IHG® since 1994 and part of the IHG® Army Hotels estate since its inception in 2009.