InterContinental Hotels Group has launched its first voco hotel in America with the rebranding of the Franklin Hotel New York.

Voco the Franklin New York is a 50-rooms art deco boutique hotel built in the 1930’s and located in the in Manhattan's Upper East Side, at short distance from Museum Mile, Central Park and Madison Avenue shopping. Before the rebranding, it has benefited from an extensive renovation programme. Its rooms are now providing 49-inch TVs, free wifi and spa-like showers. The hotel, owned by Flintlock Construction, will be managed by Aimbridge Hospitality.

The voco brand, launched in 2018, currently includes 16 properties worldwide. IHG is planning to further expand the brand’s portfolio with 23 additional voco hotels in the pipeline. In America, the opening of the voco Historic St Augustine and voco The Tiger hotels is scheduled in early 2021 in Columbia.

Other projects include a voco hotel in Edinburgh in 2021, a voco property in Qatar, with the rebranding of the Rabban Suites West Bay Doha in the first quarter of 2021. Intercontinental Hotels Group has also signed a management agreement with Saudi based Arif Group for a voco hotel project in Jeddah. The new built property, voco Jeddah North will feature 145 rooms and will open in the beginning of 2022. The voco South Melbourne is announced for 2023.

In the longer term, IHG aspires to open 200 voco hotels in popular urban and leisure locations during the next 10 years.