University Plaza Hotel is not adding any new rooms right away, but it is expanding its name. Hotel officials announced today that the establishment has become a member of the Holiday Inn family and on April 2 will become known as the Holiday Inn University Plaza. Getting a recognizable name is designed to strengthen its non-convention, out-of-town business, general manager Kurt Schatzl said. We wanted a name that best fits our market, Schatzl said at a press conference announcing the change. After discussions that included both the Radisson and Hilton chains, the hotel decided to go with Holiday Inn mainly to grow its individual business, Schatzl said. Fifty-five percent of our business is dependent on group travel and there are a lot of peaks and valleys when you depend on group travel like we do, he said. While University Plaza is known in southcentral Kentucky as an upscale, clean hotel, the senior citizen from Michigan does not know this, the business man from Houston doesnt know, but they do recognize the name of Holiday Inn, Schatzl said. Holiday Inn is part Six Continent Hotels, a global company with 3,200 establishments worldwide. Holiday Inn has its name on 2,000 of those locations. Adding the franchise comes as $1.2 million worth of renovations and capital improvements are being completed to the facilitys 218 rooms. Upgrades include new carpeting, bedspreads, window treatments, 27-inch televisions, ergonomic desk chairs and 2-line speakerphones. Projections are that becoming a Holiday Inn franchise will mean a 25 percent increase in revenue annually. Holiday Inns franchise with its 3240 Scottsville Road location expires in July. Melissa Embry, who is with the Scottsville Road Holiday Inn, said that location will remain in business but will no longer operate under the Holiday Inn name. Whether the hotel will hook up with another chain or remain independent is unknown at this point, Embry said. In looking to add a franchise, Schatzl said University Plaza discovered that Holiday Inn was trying to get away from establishments where guests enter their rooms directly from the parking lot. Its a perceived security issue, he said. They are wanting to go with the atriums through which guests would enter. Schatzl said another positive in the change are the corresponding amenities, such as the Priority Club travel program, where members can earn points toward merchandise and vacations. Holiday Inn has great worldwide recognition and its certainly going to help them with reservations, said Gary West, director of the Bowling Green Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. The outsider sees University Plaza and isnt really sure what that is. I see this a real plus for increasing business from out-of-state. John Q. Hammons Hotels Inc., which will retain ownership and management of the hotel, develops and manages hotels under Holiday Inn, Embassy Suits and Marriott names.