Growing up at The Grande: Living at the world's first InterContinental hotel

IHG Hotels & Resorts is celebrating the 75th anniversary of the InterContinental Hotels & Resorts brand. From one hotel to more than 200, InterContinental has grown with the advent of technology and evolving hotel operations, but its pioneering spirit of luxury travel endures. As we look back on the legacy of this iconic brand, we speak to someone who has truly lived the InterContinental life.
'My father was the second General Manager of the InterContinental Hotel Grande in Belém, Brazil,' says Kirby Payne. He moved into the hotel when he was four years old.

Hotel Grande was the world's first InterContinental, opening its doors in 1949. The building was constructed in the early 1900s and had 85 rooms on four floors.

'I remember a lot from my childhood, and I remember a lot about this hotel,' says Payne, President of HVS Hotel Management and HVS Asset Management.

Hotel Grande was the center of social and political activity in Belém, and Payne's parents became members of the bustling community.' They would socialize with everyone from dignitaries to local Jesuit Priests.' When Kirby Payne's father, Phyl R. Payne packed up and moved his young family to Brazil, it was in the years after World War II, and the United States government was keen to strengthen diplomatic relations and trade in Latin America.

The InterContinental brand was created in 1946 by Juan Trippe, the founder of Pan American Airways (Pan Am). Trippe took the lead in a hotel development program in South and Central America. The initial growth of the InterContinental brand is something Kirby Payne witnessed firsthand.

'As more InterContinental hotels began opening in South America, my dad would go to the new hotels for several weeks and help set up their accounts,' says Payne. 'My parents traveled a lot, sometimes I would go with them, but I was also left alone a lot,' he chuckles. Payne recalls one time when his parents left him with a family in Macapá - north of the Amazon River - while they were away.

'I had to walk back and forth across the equator, which ran through the center of town, to go to a school in that village. The first language I learned to read and write was Portuguese,' says Payne. By the time Payne went to college, he had attended 23 schools. 'I was able to see and experience all sorts of things and travel all over the Amazon.'

The InterContinental brand has always had a pioneering spirit at its core. Unsurprisingly, many of the initial InterContinental properties required additional infrastructure and facilities to help support the hotel and ensure that service exceeded the expectations of luxury travelers. Hotel Grande's ice factory is just one example of the brand's innovation that stands out to Payne.