It's big, it's new, and it's a great place to stay when you are in Memphis. The nice folks at the New Brunswick Rd. Holiday Inn & Suites also want to offer you a special rate of $139.00 per night when you are in town to attend the 2009 Bartlett Festival (a $30 discount).

Since there are lots of Holiday Inns, and this offer is designed to be supportive of a local event, it would probably be best to contact the front desk of the hotel directly to obtain your discount with your reservation (901-266-1952). You might also be pleased to note that you will be staying in one the nation's newest Holiday Inns in the very birthplace of Holiday Inn itself. Kemmons Wilson would no doubt be pleased.

The fresh look of a modern Holiday Inn is indicative of an all new guest experience. Everything about the revised Holiday Inns seems to be a serious upgrade from the familiar motels of decades past.

Still, I miss one of the most recognizable and welcoming roadside signs in the American motoring experience. Apparently the old signs are now "officially" gone, but I can't help but wonder if there are there any left anywhere? or is the old sign more lost Americana?

But the "new" Holiday Inn & Suites on New Brunswick Rd. is in tune with it's history, and has expended considerable effort to acknowledge the brand's storied past. From the new hotel's website:

"Displayed throughout the hotel is artwork depicting the legacy of the Holiday Inn brand as well as various historical pictures of our founder, Kemmons Wilson, Sr.

Great care has been taken to memorialize the rich past of the world's first hotel chain and the man behind the vision. One of the most unique aspects of this property is the room furnishings from the first Holiday Inn in the world, which was built just a few miles west of this hotel."

Pretty cool... See you September 26th.

LK

Tags: Bartlett, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn & Suites, Hotel