Holiday Inn
The Challenge
Inn or out
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) Holiday Inn found that while having a restaurant located in the hotel lends gravity and personality to each location, guests often chose to leave the hotel to dine and relax. To encourage more guests to enjoy their restaurant, they approached GIRVIN to design a more compelling food service concept.
The Solution
Get cozy
GIRVIN collaborated with IHG and Culinary Options to develop first one, then two locations for restaurant pilot concepts to test the workability of a hotel restaurant amenity that is warm and welcoming to both business and family travelers while also being able to deliver hospitable service by a minimum of full-time employees. As the concept for physical restaurant space took form, we also worked to develop the name, identity, and menus for what became Toast to Toast—a sandwich specialty quick-serve establishment catering to business and family travelers both coming and going, all enjoying the Holiday Inn brand of hospitality.
Strategy
Identity
Environmental
Messaging
Naming
Print
Design with Intent
Both sites make use of technology to reduce labor, including digital menu screens, and simple menu offerings with flavor innovations driven by comfort. Each location also combines bright color hallmarks with warm natural materials to signal pathways, demarcate spaces, and encourage the options of social mixing or private relaxation. The final concept is captured in a set of guidelines that allow for consistent rollout and adaptation to new locations.
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Thank you so much! Very impressed thus far with how our concept design is coming together. Cannot wait to apply this to Long Beach next week! Exciting progress! I am grateful for all the hard work put into this concept to date! Big with for us!”