https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holiday_Inn_Express

Holiday Inn Express is a mid-priced hotel chain within the InterContinental Hotels Group family of brands. Originally founded as an "express" hotel, their focus is on offering limited services at a reasonable price. Standard amenities lean toward the convenient and practical which cater to business travelers and short-term stays. As of September 2019, there are 2,826 Holiday Inn Express hotels featuring over 292,000 rooms worldwide.

The Holiday Inn Express concept was intended to target the "upper economy" market segment, offering limited service, low-price lodging.

In Europe, the hotels were known as Express by Holiday Inn, but this variation was phased out during the Holiday Inn Global Brand Relaunch which was announced in 2006

Das Entscheidende ist dabei wohl das (re #1) "offering limited service, low-price lodging" ...