Downtown Baton Rouge Gets Its First Holiday Inn Express

By Adrian Maties, Associate Editor

A new hotel is now open in downtown Baton Rouge. InterContinental Hotels Group announced the opening of the Holiday Inn Express Baton Rouge Downtown on  June 29.

The new hotel opened after a $12.5 million investment from the ownership. The property, which was built in 1955, was known as the Baton Rouge Savings and Loan Association Building. Over the years, it also housed the East Baton Rouge Arts and Technology School.

The Holiday Inn Express Baton Rouge Downtown is located at 400 North Blvd. It has 88 rooms and a variety of amenities, such as a fitness center, business center, a meeting room for up to 70 people and a separate boardroom for 12 people.

In addition to all of these features, the 45,000-square-foot building also has historic status. The designation was awarded last year by the U.S. Department of the Interior – National Park Service. “This building merits historic status because it’s one of the few examples left of early low-rise International Style in Louisiana,” Franciso Alecha of New Orleans-based Alecha Architecture explained in a press release.

SHMT, LLC owns the Holiday Inn Express Baton Rouge Downtown. The new hotel, which currently employs 28 employees, is managed by Pride Management Inc.

Photo credit: InterContinental Hotels Group