In November 2022, IHG Hotels & Resorts opened its first dual-branded property combining avid hotels and Holiday Inn & Suites in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, just outside Nashville. The five-story hotel, owned by Image Hotel Management, features 168 total rooms—96 Holiday Inn & Suites and 72 avid hotels—under one roof. This pioneering property represents a significant milestone in IHG’s dual-brand strategy and offers a compelling case study in how Furniture, Fixtures, and Equipment (FF&E) can be leveraged to differentiate two distinct hospitality brands while realizing operational efficiencies.

The Dual-Brand Concept: Strategy and Market Drivers
Dual-branded hotels have emerged as an increasingly attractive model for hotel owners and operators. As building and operational costs rise and competition for land accelerates, IHG and its owners are pursuing dual-branded properties as an efficient and guest-friendly alternative. Currently, IHG’s Americas portfolio includes nearly 80 open or in-pipeline dual-branded properties.
The Mt. Juliet property exemplifies how dual branding allows IHG to offer guests a choice between two distinct stay experiences. Customers can opt for either “the essentials done exceptionally well” at avid hotels or a full-service experience at Holiday Inn & Suites. For owners, dual branding offers cost reduction and operational advantages through streamlined management, housekeeping, and front desk functions.

​FF&E: The Tangible Expression of Brand Identity
Furniture, Fixtures, and Equipment represent the tangible touchpoints through which hotels express their brand identity, deliver comfort, and shape the overall guest experience. In the context of a dual-branded property, FF&E becomes particularly critical—it must simultaneously communicate two distinct brand personalities while functioning within a shared physical infrastructure.

Avid Hotels: Essentials Done Exceptionally Well
Avid hotels, launched by IHG in 2017, is positioned as a midscale brand built on the values of “Fresh, Frank and Fair”. The brand is designed for travelers who want a hotel stay that finally meets their expectations for reliability and value.
The FF&E strategy for avid hotels reflects this ethos through a modern, minimalist design concept. Guest rooms feature a fresh, contemporary aesthetic with clean lines and smart storage solutions, including alcoves and hooks instead of traditional closets. The brand delivers a best-in-class sleep experience with high-quality Tempur-Pedic beds, premium bedding, a choice of firm and soft pillows, and blackout roller shades. Hard-surface flooring, vibrant colors, and streamlined furniture create a clutter-free environment.
The brand’s signature “good all-round” grab-and-go breakfast offering is supported by thoughtfully designed FF&E in the public areas—efficient, functional, and low-fuss.

Holiday Inn & Suites: Full-Service Hospitality
Holiday Inn & Suites, by contrast, delivers a more comprehensive hospitality experience. The brand’s FF&E must support a wider range of guest needs, from business travel to family vacations.
In the Mt. Juliet property, Holiday Inn & Suites guest rooms feature in-room workstations designed for productivity. The brand’s FF&E palette is more traditional and substantial, reflecting its full-service positioning. The presence of the Burger Theory restaurant on-site represents a significant FF&E investment in food and beverage infrastructure that is absent from the avid side of the property.

Shared Spaces: The Art of FF&E Harmonization
One of the most intriguing aspects of the Mt. Juliet dual-branded property is how FF&E is deployed in shared spaces. The hotel offers guests access to common areas including a heated indoor pool, fitness center, 1,800 square feet of meeting space, and outdoor common areas.
In these shared environments, FF&E must strike a delicate balance—the design must feel cohesive and intentional while respecting the distinct brand identities of both avid and Holiday Inn. This requires careful selection of furniture, fixtures, and finishes that can serve both guest segments without alienating either. The challenge is to create a unified aesthetic that does not dilute either brand’s identity.

FF&E Procurement and Brand Compliance
IHG maintains rigorous brand standards that extend to FF&E specifications. The company’s Design and Innovation Center in Atlanta serves as a hub where every detail—from initial sketches to installation—is carefully reviewed to meet quality and brand standards. This process gives owners confidence that designs are not only brand compliant but also robust, cost-effective, and built to deliver lasting value.

For dual-branded properties, the complexity multiplies. Procurement teams must manage two distinct FF&E inventories, each adhering to different brand standards, while also coordinating shared-space furnishings. IHG Procurement has developed programs to help owners purchase FF&E items in smaller quantities from approved suppliers, reducing the burden of inventory management.
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The FF&E procurement process for hotels spans several vital stages, beginning with planning and budgeting. Project goals and financial guidelines must be established to ensure furniture, fixtures, and equipment choices align with the design vision and budget constraints. Model rooms typically take four to six months to build, purchase, and install, allowing time for adjustments before large orders are placed.

Operational Synergies Through FF&E Standardization
Dual branding offers operational advantages that extend to FF&E management. Streamlined housekeeping, maintenance, and front desk functions mean that certain FF&E categories—such as cleaning equipment, maintenance tools, and front desk furnishings—can be standardized across both brands.
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However, guest-facing FF&E must remain brand-distinct. The avid hotels guest room, with its minimalist design and smart storage, serves a different guest profile than the Holiday Inn & Suites room with its full workstations and more traditional furnishings. This dual approach to FF&E allows the property to capture a broader range of travelers while maintaining brand integrity.

The FF&E Investment Case
The global market for hotel furniture, fixtures, and equipment was estimated at US$50.6 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach US$74.4 billion by 2032. For owners of dual-branded properties, FF&E represents both a significant capital investment and a strategic opportunity.

By sharing certain back-of-house and public-space FF&E while maintaining distinct guest-room specifications, dual-branded properties can achieve economies of scale. The Mt. Juliet property’s 168 rooms benefit from shared management, housekeeping, and front desk functions, reducing the per-room FF&E operational burden.
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Kevin Schramm, IHG’s Senior Vice President of Mainstream for the U.S. and Canada, noted that dual branding “has evolved from being two separate sides of a building sharing a parking lot or pool to a model that’s beneficial to guests and owners”. This evolution is reflected in how FF&E is conceptualized and deployed—no longer as separate inventories for separate buildings, but as an integrated strategy that serves multiple brands within a single property.

Conclusion
The Avid Hotels by IHG / Holiday Inn & Suites dual-branded property in Mt. Juliet represents a new frontier in hotel development and FF&E strategy. It demonstrates how thoughtful FF&E planning can enable two distinct brands to coexist under one roof, each maintaining its unique identity while sharing the operational and economic benefits of a single property.

For avid hotels, FF&E delivers on the promise of “essentials done exceptionally well”—minimalist, functional, and efficient. For Holiday Inn & Suites, FF&E supports a full-service experience with workstations, restaurant infrastructure, and more traditional furnishings. In shared spaces, FF&E must harmonize these two worlds.

As IHG continues to explore new prototypes that “bring the best elements of our complementary brands together”, FF&E will remain at the heart of the dual-brand equation—the tangible, physical expression of how two distinct hospitality brands can share a home while each retaining its own soul.