Like winter sweet flowers that bloom in the snow, mid-scale hotels blossom in the global economic chill that is giving a cold shoulder to even the most illustrious five-star establishments.

Holiday Inn Express, a mid-scale hotel unit of InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), the world's largest by number of rooms, is one of the bloomers. Tyrone Tang, area general manager of Holiday Inn Express hotels in Beijing, said all five Holiday Inn Express hotels in Beijing "did well in 2008".

Encouraged by those results, the company plans to open two more hotels in Beijing 2009. "The economic downturn has brought good opportunity for my hotels because many corporations are cutting back on expenses, and executive travel is the first to come under the knife," Tang said.