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Crowne Plaza is a chain of full service, upscale hotels catering to business travelers and to the meetings and conventions market. It forms part of the InterContinental Hotels Group family of brands, which include InterContinental and Holiday Inn and operates in 52 countries, usually located in city centers, resorts, or near major airports.

Originally branded as "Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza", the first United States Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza Hotel was opened in Rockville, Maryland, in 1983. Within a couple of years the brand was spun off as an independent chain (still owned at the time by Holiday Inn). The first Crowne Plaza Resort opened in Madeira, Portugal in 1999. Crowne Plaza once owned the Isle of Capri Casino resort chain.

Today, the brand represents over 400 hotels globally in 52 countries with 102,667 bedrooms (as of March 2010) and an expanding 129 hotels in the pipeline. In 1990, the InterContinental Hotels Group purchased the Holiday Inn family; today its portfolio includes the luxury brand InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, the upscale boutique brand Hotel Indigo, the upscale extended stay brand Staybridge Suites, the midscale extended stay brand Candlewood Suites, and the midscale, full service brand Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts and the midscale limited service brand Holiday Inn Express.

In July 2009, Crowne Plaza was recognized by Lodging Hospitality magazine as one of the industry's top growing brands.

Notable properties[link]

• The Crowne Plaza Liverpool John Lennon Airport is the former terminal building of Liverpool Speke Airport, constructed in the 1930s and used until 1986. Its notable art deco features led to its listing as a heritage building, and subsequent adaption as a hotel.

• The Crowne Plaza Denver Airport Hotel has more meeting space on site than any other Crowne Plaza in the World^{[citation needed]}

• The Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers is the first hotel in Denmark to generate all of its power from renewable sources, including solar panels and geothermal heating and cooling pumps. Also, its stationary bicycles are connected to generators, which provide electricity to the hotel.

• Rapper Big Pun died on February 7th, 2000 of a heart attack and respiratory failure at the Crowne Plaza in White Plains, New York.

Sponsorship[link]

Crowne Plaza is the title sponsor of the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial - a PGA Tour golf tournament held annually in Fort Worth, Texas.

Crowne Plaza sponsored FIA World Touring Car Championship driver Andy Priaulx, a multiple touring car champion. They now sponsor him in DTM.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Crowne Plaza

• Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts
• Crowne Plaza worldwide location list

Gallery[link]

v t e InterContinental Hotels Group Brands Current Candlewood Suites Crowne Plaza Holiday Inn Holiday Inn Express Holiday Inn Garden Court Hotel Indigo InterContinental Staybridge Suites Former Holiday Inn Sunspree Resorts Notable hotels Crowne Plaza Crowne Plaza Billings Crowne Plaza İzmir Crowne Plaza Lebanon Crowne Plaza Liverpool John Lennon Airport Crowne Plaza Times Square New York Crowne Plaza Niagara Falls – Fallsview Crowne Plaza Prague Crowne Plaza San Antonio InterContinental InterContinental Amstel Amsterdam InterContinental Bali InterContinental Boston InterContinental Bucharest InterContinental Carlton Cannes InterContinental Hong Kong InterContinental Kabul InterContinental Kuwait Downtown InterContinental London InterContinental Manila InterContinental Miami InterContinental Muscat InterContinental New York Barclay InterContinental Phnom Penh InterContinental San Francisco InterContinental Mark Hopkins San Francisco InterContinental Toronto Centre InterContinental Warsaw Willard InterContinental Washington People Andy Cosslett Ian Prosser Juan Trippe Kemmons Wilson Other Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial Category Commons

v t e Hotel chains in the United Kingdom Budget Comfort Inn Days Inn EasyHotel Etap Express by Holiday Inn Formule 1 Ibis Innkeeper's Lodge Premier Inn Sleep Inn Travelodge Mid-market Barceló Hotels Britannia Hotels Best Western Clarion Hotels Crerar Hotels Hilton Hotels Holiday Inn McMillan Hotels Mercure Hotels Novotel Park Inn Park Plaza Peel Hotels Principal Hayley Quality Hotels Swallow Hotels Thistle Hotels Upscale / Full Service Champneys Crowne Plaza Club Quarters Dorchester Collection DoubleTree by Hilton Epoque Hotels Exclusive Hotels Fairmont Hotels and Resorts Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts Hand Picked Hotels InterContinental Malmaison Mandarin Oriental Marriott Hotels & Resorts Morgans Hotel Group Maybourne Hotel Group Orient-Express Hotels Radisson Hotels Ralph Trustees Renaissance Hotels The Rocco Forte Collection Sofitel Starwood Hotels Swissôtel Taj Hotels Defunct Crest Hotels Ramada Jarvis Real Hotel Stakis Hotels

David Jay (born April 24, 1982) is an American asexual activist. Jay is the founder and webmaster of the Asexual Visibility and Education Network (AVEN). While a student at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, Jay came out as asexual and launched AVEN's website.^[1] Since then, he has taken a leading role in the asexuality movement, appearing on multiple television shows, and being featured heavily in Arts Engine's 2011 documentary (A)sexual.^[2]

AVEN, which Salon.com referred to as the "unofficial online headquarters" of the asexuality movement,^[3] is widely recognised as the largest online asexual community.^[4] Its two main goals are to create public acceptance and discussion about asexuality and to facilitate the growth of a large online asexual community.^[5] AVEN currently has over 30,000 registered members.^[2]

References[link]

External links[link]

• AVENguy – David Jay's online profile
• Love from the Asexual Underground - David Jay's blog and podcast about asexuality
• AVEN – Asexual Visibility and Education Network.
• Interview with Jay