Garner by IHG Launches Nostalgia Travel Campaign in Germany, Inviting their Guests to Rediscover New Meaningful Places Through Instax Photography and Memory-Focused Journeys

Written By: Gishan Das

Gishan Das

Gishan Das is a dedicated graduate with academic backgrounds in History and Political Science and practical experience in journalism and digital content creation. He completed his History Honours from Serampore College under the University of Calcutta and Political Science Honours from Indira Gandhi National Open University in 2025. His academic credentials are supported by professional certifications including a B2 level Certification in French language, NISM Financial Education certification in collaboration with the Aditya Birla Group alongside Gishan has strong expertise in journalism, news research and SEO-based content writing. He has demonstrated skills in news analysis, fact-checking, headline creation, digital storytelling and search-optimized reporting, which are also reflected in the journalism and media skills

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July 23, 2026 12:34 AM

Garner by IHG is now running a travel campaign based on nostalgia where it encourages the guests to reconnect with their own meaningful destinations and record their travels through photography with instax films. Involving actors such as Lea van Acken, Gizem Emre and Ben Felipe, the campaign discusses the impact of childhood destinations, familiar neighborhoods, personal connections and experiences on the travelers’ perspective of travel.

From August 2026, the guests staying at four Garner hotels in Germany can access free instax camera and film and capture their travels to create analogue travel journals and share the pictures on social media to participate in a contest for a trip to a Garner hotel in Germany.

Analogue Photography Gives Modern City Breaks a More Personal Focus

The campaign is built around the idea that travel memories are not defined only by famous landmarks or distant destinations. They may also emerge from a familiar street, a childhood neighbourhood, a hotel room used before an important event or time spent reconnecting with family. By giving the three campaign participants instant cameras, Garner has deliberately removed some of the control associated with smartphone photography.

Instant film provides limited opportunities to retake or edit an image. Travellers must choose their subjects carefully and accept the resulting picture as a physical record of a specific moment. This format supports the campaign’s emphasis on spontaneity, emotional connection and authenticity. Rather than documenting an itinerary continuously for an online audience, travellers are encouraged to pause, observe their surroundings and decide which moments deserve one of the available photographs.

Four German Hotels Will Offer Complimentary Cameras During August

The public element will operate from 1 to 31 August 2026 at Garner Hotel Cologne–Engelbertz, Garner Hotel Augsburg Nord, Garner Hotel Mannheim City and Garner Hotel Berlin–Mitte. Guests staying at these properties can register to borrow an instax camera with film and use it while exploring the surrounding destination. The initiative is complimentary, although camera availability, registration arrangements and borrowing conditions should be confirmed before arrival.

Participants will also be invited to publish their analogue travel diaries through social media. Selected entrants will have an opportunity to win a future stay at a Garner hotel of their choice in Germany. The campaign therefore combines an in-hotel guest amenity, destination exploration and user-generated storytelling within one promotion.

Lea van Acken Reconnects With Berlin’s Role in Her Career

Lea van Acken began her campaign journey from Garner Hotel Berlin–Charlottenburg, returning to a city closely connected with her professional and personal development. Her travel diary focuses partly on the role hotel rooms played before Berlin became her permanent home. During earlier productions, events and appearances, they provided temporary spaces where she could prepare, learn lines and move between different professional commitments.

The campaign presents the hotel room not simply as somewhere to sleep but as a transitional environment between arrival and performance. By returning with an analogue camera, van Acken revisited the routines and emotions associated with those earlier stages of her career. Her story demonstrates that meaningful travel memories can begin before a visitor reaches an attraction. Preparing for an event, looking through a hotel window or spending quiet time before entering the city may become equally important parts of the journey.

Gizem Emre Uses a Berlin Staycation to See Home Differently

Gizem Emre approached the project through a staycation at Garner Hotel Berlin–Ku’Damm. Rather than travelling to an unfamiliar destination, she used the experience to rediscover her hometown. She revisited favourite locations in Charlottenburg and Mitte, stepping outside her everyday schedule and observing familiar places through the more deliberate process of instant photography. The journey reflects a growing form of urban travel in which residents book accommodation within their own city to break routine, explore different neighbourhoods and experience home from a visitor’s perspective.

Emre’s diary also connects the hotel experience with her work in film. After extended days on set, she values an informal atmosphere, a welcoming team and somewhere she can relax quickly. Her contribution frames the meaning of home not purely through geography but through comfort, familiarity and the feeling of having arrived.

Ben Felipe Turns Family Memories Into a New Shared Journey

Ben Felipe, an actor and musician, travelled with his brother using Garner Hotel Augsburg Nord as their base. Their journey focused on shared childhood memories and the continuing importance of travelling together. Many of their earliest experiences involved visiting family in Spain. The campaign allowed them to recall those journeys while spending uninterrupted time together and creating a new collection of photographs.

This part of the project moves beyond destination-led storytelling and focuses on the travelling companion. The significance of the trip comes from the relationship, conversations and memories shared during it rather than from completing a list of attractions. Felipe’s experience supports the campaign’s central argument that travel does not always need to involve discovering an unfamiliar place. It can provide time to reconnect with people whose presence shaped earlier journeys and to understand how those experiences continue influencing the present.

Campaign Hotels and Celebrity Journey Hotels Are Not Identical

Travellers should distinguish between the hotels used in the actors’ visual diaries and those participating in the public camera-loan programme. The personal journeys began from Garner Hotel Berlin–Charlottenburg, Garner Hotel Berlin–Ku’Damm and Garner Hotel Augsburg Nord. However, the August guest experience will be available at Cologne–Engelbertz, Augsburg Nord, Mannheim City and Berlin–Mitte.

Augsburg Nord appears in both parts of the campaign, while the two Berlin properties used by van Acken and Emre are different from the Berlin–Mitte hotel offering camera loans. This distinction is important for guests booking specifically to participate. Travellers should select one of the four designated August properties and complete the campaign registration process rather than assuming that every Garner hotel in Berlin or Germany will provide equipment.

The Project Reflects Garner’s Character-Led Hotel Positioning

Garner is positioned within IHG’s portfolio as an affordable midscale conversion brand offering relaxed stays in convenient locations. Its properties focus on essential services such as comfortable rooms, free Wi-Fi, locally influenced breakfasts, fresh bean-to-cup coffee and access to a 24-hour Garner Shop. The analogue travel campaign builds on that positioning by presenting hotels as accessible starting points for local exploration. The properties are not being promoted as self-contained luxury destinations.

Instead, they provide practical accommodation from which guests can enter surrounding neighbourhoods, interact with the city and create personal itineraries. The camera initiative also gives participating hotels an additional point of character. A guest’s experience can differ according to the places visited, people photographed and stories attached to each image, even when the basic accommodation model remains consistent across the brand.

Germany Has Become a Crucial Market for Garner’s Rapid Growth

Garner launched in 2023 and has become IHG’s fastest-scaling global brand. It reached 100 open properties in March 2026, with further hotels under development across multiple international markets. Germany has played a central role in that growth. As of 31 March 2026, the brand had 40 open hotels and 13 pipeline properties in the country, supported by IHG’s partnership with NOVUM Hospitality.

Garner first entered Europe through Germany in 2024, when hotels opened in Hamburg Nord, Elmshorn and Augsburg Nord. The wider agreement is converting a substantial collection of existing German properties into Garner hotels, allowing the brand to expand more quickly than would normally be possible through new construction alone.

Instant Images Could Encourage Guests to Explore More Slowly

The campaign offers Garner an opportunity to connect its urban hotel network with a more reflective form of travel. Guests carrying an instant camera may spend longer observing architectural details, neighbourhood life, local cafés and everyday scenes that would be overlooked during a tightly scheduled trip. Unlike digital photographs stored among thousands of other files, an instant print creates a physical souvenir immediately.

Travellers can annotate it, place it in a diary or share it with a companion. That tactile element reinforces the project’s interest in memory and personal storytelling. The promotion may also encourage guests to explore beyond major attractions. A photograph of a quiet street, an independent shop or an unplanned meeting can carry greater personal value than another technically perfect image of a crowded landmark.

Garner Turns Nostalgia Into an Interactive Hotel Experience

With the help of the new marketing campaign, Garner by IHG offers guests an immersive experience combining hotel accommodations, city adventures, and analogue photography. Traveling back in time via the experiences of Lea van Acken, Gizem Emre and Ben Felipe, the brand promotes travel as a tool for re-visiting key memories and relationships rather than an endless quest for something new.

During August 1 – 31, 2026, guests in four selected German hotels have the opportunity to document their experience on instant film and win one more stay at Garner. While the idea of the contest is quite simple, it delivers a wider message – meaningful trips could be made anywhere, whether in a distant country, a familiar city or even in the neighbourhood a person has grown up in.

Image Source: IHG