Holiday Inn Express Tawau Planned to Open in 2028

Tawau, in the Malaysian state of Sabah, is set to welcome its first IHG Hotels & Resorts property when King Park Hotel Tawau opens as Holiday Inn Express Tawau, scheduled for 2028. The 140-room project involves a major refurbishment of the existing hotel, highlighting hotel conversions for the franchise community following developments in Sabah.

Focus on refurbishing an existing hotel

According to a DagangNews report dated 28 September 2026, citing an IHG statement, the Tawau plan forms part of a two-hotel portfolio agreement between the group and King Park Hotel Sdn Bhd. For the Tawau property, the change involves more than a new name: its opening under the Holiday Inn Express brand is planned to follow a major refurbishment.

Holiday Inn Express Tawau is expected to have 140 rooms. The announced opening year is 2028; this does not mean the hotel has already begun welcoming guests under the new brand. This distinction matters for readers assessing hotel network growth through both project announcements and actual operations.

The available source material does not specify when work will begin, the refurbishment cost or how King Park Hotel Tawau will operate during the process. The announcement should therefore be read as a hotel conversion plan with a target opening date, rather than confirmation that all stages of implementation have been completed.

Tawau becomes a new location in IHG’s network

IHG says Holiday Inn Express Tawau will be its first hotel in the city. The project’s significance for the group’s expansion lies in its entry into a new location through an identified property, rather than a location announcement without a specific asset attached.

The agreement with King Park Hotel Sdn Bhd gives IHG a site for its first operation in Tawau. However, a planned property should not be equated with an operating hotel. Based on the reported schedule, the Holiday Inn Express opening remains dependent on completing the refurbishment ahead of the 2028 target.

For those following Malaysia’s franchise market, the project offers a concrete example of how an existing hotel can become part of an international chain’s expansion plans. The facts announced so far concern the hotel’s identity, new brand, room count and opening year. The supplied material contains no occupancy performance figures or revenue forecasts for the Tawau hotel.

Hotel conversions underpin the portfolio agreement

Bryan Chan, IHG’s Vice President of Development for South East Asia and Korea, described the introduction of the franchise model in Malaysia as an important milestone in the group’s regional growth strategy. According to his comments reported by DagangNews, the model creates opportunities to convert and reposition hotel assets.

These opportunities include independent hotels and properties previously operating under other international brands. In Tawau, the identified asset is King Park Hotel Tawau, with a major refurbishment planned before its conversion to Holiday Inn Express.

The other property covered by the same portfolio agreement is King Park Hotel Kota Kinabalu. It will be rebranded as the 106-room Garner Hotel Kota Kinabalu, with a further 96 rooms expected to be operational by 2029. The timetable for these additional rooms in Kota Kinabalu is separate from the Tawau hotel’s target opening in 2028.

Including both properties, IHG says its Malaysian network comprises more than 20 hotels that are either operating or in the pipeline. This combined figure does not mean all of them have opened. Distinguishing operating hotels from future projects is important when assessing the scale of a brand’s actual presence.

What to monitor ahead of 2028

The next relevant developments will be confirmation of refurbishment progress and the opening schedule for Holiday Inn Express Tawau. These details will help readers distinguish initial targets from implementation milestones, particularly given the substantial changes planned for an existing hotel building.

For asset owners exploring similar opportunities, an agreement announcement alone is not enough to make commercial comparisons. The available material does not state franchise fees, the total refurbishment investment or participation requirements. These details should be obtained directly before any assessment is made; they cannot be inferred from the room count or brand name.

Practical guidance: Treat the 2028 target as a reference point for monitoring the Tawau project, not a guaranteed opening date. Anyone in the franchise community assessing hotel conversions should seek confirmation of the timetable, scope of work and commercial terms before making a decision.