What does IHG stand for? The letters belong to InterContinental Hotels Group, a hotel company based in England that runs and franchises hotels around the world under many different hotel names. Travelers usually meet the three letters on a booking page, a key card sleeve or a rewards account rather than on a hotel sign.
The group took its name from InterContinental, its oldest and best known luxury hotel line. Today the company presents itself to guests as IHG Hotels & Resorts, and most people simply call it IHG.
Quick facts
Stands for
InterContinental Hotels GroupType
Initialism used as a company nameHow to say it
"eye aitch jee"Business
Hotels: owning brands, franchising and managing propertiesBased in
England, with hotels in many countriesGuest name
IHG Hotels & ResortsSeen on
Booking sites, receipts, loyalty cards, job listings
What does IHG stand for? The three words
| Initial | Full word | What it points to |
|---|---|---|
| I | InterContinental | The company's original luxury hotel line |
| H | Hotels | The core business |
| G | Group | A parent company that holds several hotel brands |
Note the spelling: InterContinental is written as one word with a capital C in the middle. That middle capital is part of the brand, so it is worth copying when you write the full form. The word "Group" matters too. It signals that IHG is an umbrella over many hotel names, from budget stays to upscale resorts, not a single chain.
IHG stands for a parent company, not one hotel
You will rarely check into a hotel called "IHG." Instead, the building carries one of the group's individual hotel names, and IHG is the company behind it. Many of those properties are owned by local investors who pay to use the name and the booking system, a setup called franchising. Others are run by IHG under management contracts.
A booking confirmation: "Thank you for booking with IHG. Your reservation number is below." The hotel you chose is part of the IHG family, and the confirmation, the loyalty points and the customer service all run through the parent company.
That is also why the letters show up on credit card statements and travel expense reports even when the hotel itself had a different name on the door.
Where the name came from
InterContinental was a hotel name long before IHG existed, dating back to the middle of the 1900s. Over the decades it passed through several owners. In 2003 a British company that held hotels along with pubs and drinks businesses split into separate firms, and the hotel side became InterContinental Hotels Group.
Because InterContinental was its most famous hotel line, it made sense to put that word first. The short form IHG arrived almost at once, and over time the company leaned on the three letters more and more in its own marketing.
How to say and write IHG
- Say it: "eye aitch jee," spelled out like a call sign, so it counts as an initialism.
- Article: write "an IHG hotel," since the spoken I opens with "eye."
- Capitals: always all caps, with no periods.
- Possessive: "IHG's rewards program" with an apostrophe and s.
For the difference between letters you spell out and letters you say as a word, see what is an acronym.
IHG in everyday sentences
- "Our team gets a corporate rate at IHG properties."
- "I used IHG points for two free nights."
- "The charge says IHG, but we stayed at a hotel near the airport."
- "She took a front desk job with an IHG franchise in town."
- "Book through the IHG app so the stay counts toward your status."
Letters people confuse with IHG
A few nearby short forms come up when people search for travel and business terms:
- IHOP starts with the same two letters but is a restaurant name, not a hotel company.
- PLC, public limited company, is the legal form of many British firms, IHG included.
- IHC and IGH are typos people make when they search for the hotel group.
Other company names that grew out of initials live in the brand name acronyms list.
Questions people ask
Is IHG a hotel?
Not exactly. IHG is the parent company, and the hotels you book carry its individual hotel names.
What does the I in IHG mean?
It stands for InterContinental, the hotel name that came first in the company's history and is still its best known luxury line.
How do you pronounce IHG?
Say each letter: "eye aitch jee." Blending it into one syllable would confuse listeners.
Is IHG an American company?
No. IHG is based in England, although it has a large number of hotels in the United States.
Why does IHG appear on my card statement?
If you booked a hotel in the group, the charge may be listed under the parent company name. The individual hotel name may appear next to it or not at all.