Holiday Inn, a unit of InterContinental Hotels Group, will celebrate its 60th anniversary by placing diamonds in selected guestrooms across its hotels in Europe.
Starting 1 October 2012, Holiday Inn will place diamonds under the pillows in hotel rooms in the UK, Spain, Germany, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Russia and Turkey.
Holiday Inn, which was founded in 1952 with its first hotel in Memphis, Tennessee, now has 3,375 properties under the brands Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Holiday Inn Resorts and Holiday Inn Club Vacations.
The hotel claims to be the first brand to introduce TVs, in-room telephones, air conditioning, online booking and free parking, as well as the first to allow children to eat and stay for free.
To mark its 60th anniversary, the brand is spending £30,000 on its diamonds scheme under which it will offer a number of cushion cut gems of more than one carat.
IHG vice president marketing Europe Mike Greenup said, "Hiding diamonds in Holiday Inn hotels is an innovative way to celebrate our anniversary and give something back to our guests. It will be a big surprise for one lucky person in the UK when they check into their bedroom and find the rock sitting under their pillow!"
Guests can log on to the hotel's Facebook page for clues and hints on the location of the gems, which will be placed in randomly-selected hotel rooms.
In addition to Holiday Inn, IHG owns eight hotel brands including InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites, Candlewood Suites, EVEN Hotels and HUALUXE Hotels & Resorts.
Image: More than £30,000 worth of diamonds will be placed in Holiday Inn hotels across Europe.
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