The inside story of InterContinental Hotels’ quest to export 1960s American glamor to the world

Francesca Street, CNN
8 minute read
Published 6:44 AM EST, Wed December 8, 2021
<strong>Vintage hotel photos:</strong> The InterContinental Hotel brand was established 75 years ago by Juan Trippe, founder of Pan American Airways. Here's a photo of the InterContinental Medellin Hotel in Medellin, Colombia, which opened in 1970.
Vintage hotel photos: The InterContinental Hotel brand was established 75 years ago by Juan Trippe, founder of Pan American Airways. Here's a photo of the InterContinental Medellin Hotel in Medellin, Colombia, which opened in 1970.
Courtesy of Arie deZanger
<strong>Varied interiors:</strong> There was no universal blueprint for InterContinental Hotel interiors. Instead, hotel rooms and bars varied depending on the city and country. Interior designer Neal Prince sought inspiration from local art and culture. Pictured here: interior of the InterContinental Medellin.
Varied interiors: There was no universal blueprint for InterContinental Hotel interiors. Instead, hotel rooms and bars varied depending on the city and country. Interior designer Neal Prince sought inspiration from local art and culture. Pictured here: interior of the InterContinental Medellin.
Courtesy of Arie deZanger
<strong>Sprit of travel: </strong>"When you woke up from a jet lag, you felt you were in Paris, or Geneva, or Brazil, or Colombia," a representative of the Neal Prince Trust, which has kept the designer's work alive since his death in 2017, tells CNN Travel. "That was his trademark." Here's the lobby of the Frankfurt InterContinental Hotel, which opened in 1963.
Sprit of travel: "When you woke up from a jet lag, you felt you were in Paris, or Geneva, or Brazil, or Colombia," a representative of the Neal Prince Trust, which has kept the designer's work alive since his death in 2017, tells CNN Travel. "That was his trademark." Here's the lobby of the Frankfurt InterContinental Hotel, which opened in 1963.
Courtesy of Arie deZanger
<strong>Frankfurt rooftop views</strong>: M. C. Huhne, author of "<a href="https://www.callisto-publishers.com/project/pan-am-history-design-identity-standard-edition/" target="_blank" target="_blank">Pan Am: History, Design and Identity</a>" calls InterContinental "the first international hotel chain." While InterContinental was looking global, its equivalent hotel chains were mostly focused on domestic markets:
Frankfurt rooftop views: M. C. Huhne, author of "Pan Am: History, Design and Identity" calls InterContinental "the first international hotel chain." While InterContinental was looking global, its equivalent hotel chains were mostly focused on domestic markets:
Courtesy of Arie deZanger
<strong>Lounging in Ecuador: </strong>Here's the lounge at InterContinental Quito, in Ecuador, which opened in 1967. Prince worked closely with photographer Arie deZanger, who took photos of many of his interiors for InterContinental, including this one.
Lounging in Ecuador: Here's the lounge at InterContinental Quito, in Ecuador, which opened in 1967. Prince worked closely with photographer Arie deZanger, who took photos of many of his interiors for InterContinental, including this one.
Courtesy of Arie deZanger
<strong>Sense of color: </strong>New York-based Arie deZanger was a fashion photographer who worked closely with his wife, Wilma, who'd studied fashion design. Wilma tells CNN Travel she always loved Prince's hotel interiors: "His sense of color, his sense of the materials that were used, the choices were just amazing." Here's the restaurant at InterContinental Quito.
Sense of color: New York-based Arie deZanger was a fashion photographer who worked closely with his wife, Wilma, who'd studied fashion design. Wilma tells CNN Travel she always loved Prince's hotel interiors: "His sense of color, his sense of the materials that were used, the choices were just amazing." Here's the restaurant at InterContinental Quito.
Courtesy of Arie deZanger
<strong>Teamwork:</strong> Wilma tells CNN Travel she'd travel with her husband on his InterContinental assignments, coordinating productions, dressing sets, assisting with wardrobe, sourcing models, and occasionally standing in as a model herself. Here's Arie deZanger's photo of the Oberoi InterContinental Hotel in New Delhi, India which opened in 1965.
Teamwork: Wilma tells CNN Travel she'd travel with her husband on his InterContinental assignments, coordinating productions, dressing sets, assisting with wardrobe, sourcing models, and occasionally standing in as a model herself. Here's Arie deZanger's photo of the Oberoi InterContinental Hotel in New Delhi, India which opened in 1965.
Courtesy of Arie deZanger
<strong>Setting the scene: </strong>The deZangers would make a list of every scene they wanted to capture at each hotel, and then Wilma would source models. Often Pan Am flight attendants and pilots would step in, she says, as well as hotel employees. Here's the restaurant at the InterContinental Wien Hotel in Vienna, Austria, which opened in 1964 and is still operating today.
Setting the scene: The deZangers would make a list of every scene they wanted to capture at each hotel, and then Wilma would source models. Often Pan Am flight attendants and pilots would step in, she says, as well as hotel employees. Here's the restaurant at the InterContinental Wien Hotel in Vienna, Austria, which opened in 1964 and is still operating today.
Courtesy of Arie deZanger
<strong>Aerial photography: </strong>Sometimes photographing the exterior of the hotels was a challenge, as when deZanger captured this shot of the Tahara'a InterContinental in Pape'éte, Tahiti, in French Polynesia, from a small airplane with the door removed and no seatbelt.
Aerial photography: Sometimes photographing the exterior of the hotels was a challenge, as when deZanger captured this shot of the Tahara'a InterContinental in Pape'éte, Tahiti, in French Polynesia, from a small airplane with the door removed and no seatbelt.
Courtesy of Arie deZanger