All About Quality Inn
A hospitality franchisor was once called Quality Inn, the name has been changed to Choice Hotels International, which is based in Rockville, Mayland. They own several hotel brands with a range from upscale to the economy. The business franchised more than 7,000 properties in 40 countries along with 587,018 rooms. Quality Inns or Choice Hotel International has a reputation for being the second-largest hotel in the world with properties of 6,514 hotels in the thirty-two countries however they are behind their competitor Wyndham Hotels in terms of budget. They are focused on budget hotels in the United States, they are represented in a few countries compared to other hotel chains. They have a mission and vision to provide goods and services of high quality to customers, travelers, and tourists. And to have the best experiences while staying at the hotel, to stay in the room that satisfies their needs and wants. Let’s know Who owns Quality Inn?
How did they start?
Quality Inn is otherwise known as Quality Court United, Inc., started a nonprofit consultant department in several motels in Florida, it was founded in 1939. The title of the business turned on numerous occasions, and in the end, they chose to call it Choice Hotels International. At the beginning of the 1960s, the organization consisted of almost 600 members. Every hotel was required to meet quality standards and offer facilities to the customers such as air conditioning, telephones, swimming pools, panel driveways, and wall-to-wall carpeting. By 1963, the hotel chain shifted to a for-profit enterprise and changed its name to Quality Motels, Inc.
Stewart W. Bainum Sr. started his career by running a plumbing business in Washington, D.C. In the 1950s, he opened his hotel in Silver Spring, Maryland. His franchise was created and opened called Quality Courts motel at the beginning of the 1960s. Then he joined two organizations Park Consolidated Motels, Inc. with Quality Motels.
Expansion
The organization changed its name to Quality Inns International at the beginning of the 1970s and during 1990 the name was changed again to Choice Hotel International. The organization decided to start its first market segmentation in the 1980s, they used various hotel brands with the price points. They then made expansion across the country, and the company started to operate their hotels in the west. The flagship brand, which is The Comfort Brand, made an establishment in 1981.
The brand image is for particular target customers such as families, individual tourists, business tourists, and senior citizens. It was to compete with other companies such as Days Inn, Best West, and Friendship Inn. The organization continued in the midscale segment, competing with Holiday Inn, Rwanda, Howard Jonhson, and Travelodge. Since the brand of Quality Royale has been discontinued, they are now known as Choice Hotels’ upscale brand; it has been designed for competing with other hotels such as Marriott, Hyatt Hilton, and Sheraton. The brand shifted to Clarion. Choice Hotels International purchased Friendship Inn, Rodeway Inn, and Econo Lodge during the 1980s.
The organization made an introduction to a new economy brand called McSleep. It had an interior corridor design prototype, it was designed and constructed by Rob Spurr. The brand name, later on, was changed to Sleep Inn during the litigation from McDonald’s. Stewart W. Bainum Sr.’s second organization called Manor Care, Inc. owns and manages nursing homes, they purchased Choice Hotels during the year 1990. Later on, the organization’s businesses were spun off in 1996. The organization started to operate internationally and was directed by Stewart until 1987, later on, his son Stewart W. Bainum Jr. got into the position of chairman and chief executive.
In the year 2018, Bainum Jr. continued as the director of Choice Hotels International. In 1996, they openly traded, they moreover announced the enterprise of the MainStay Suites brand, which is a midscale extended-stay lodge. During the 2000’s they expanded for an upscale hotel market, in 2005 they announced a new creation of its Cambria Hotels & Suites brand. Later on, it was renamed Cambria Hotels. This was their first brand after the MainStays brand in 1996. The Cambria brand has become an upscale hotel chain for business travelers.
In 2008, the Cambria brand was expanded, about a hundred hotels were opened in many locations such as Philadelphia, Dallas, New Orleans, South Windsor, Connecticut, and Savannah, Georgia. During the year 2008, the organization is known as the first industry chain for the establishment of the soft brand also called Ascend Hotel Collection. The soft brand provides upscale boutique and historic hotels.
What have they done recently?
Choice Hotels International decided to transform its properties in 2012, they removed its franchising of 600 properties since they haven’t met the new standards that were set by the organization. They then rebranded Comfort during the year 2018 and purchased three brands.
- Comfort Inn,
- Comfort Inn & Suites
- Comfort Suites
All of them are under one umbrella. Several properties of the Comfort haven’t met the organization’s criteria. It caused their brand change under the Quality Inn brand. Both Comfort and Quality have swapped their market positions along with the Choice’s hierarchy.
In October 2010, Maryland and Montgomery County declared that Choice Hotels International transferred their office from Silver Spring to Rockville Town Centre in Rockville; the new department had 197, 866 square feet. The company had a groundbreaking in August 2011 and they transferred the headquarters in June 2013. New highlights proposed by Choice Hotels International in the lodge enterprise such as introducing non-smoking cabins, twenty-four-hour-a-day toll-free tables, an internet-based property administration system, and an app for phones. Their technological advancement commenced with the invention of a new category called SkyTouch Technology in 2013 to market the property management system to other hotel organizations.
During the year 2014, Choice Hotels International invested millions of dollars and started a multi-year process for developing the hotel industry’s first international reservation and distribution platform for twenty-seven years. The organization also launched a cloud-based system called choiceEDGE in the year 2018. The system can interrogate with voice search and using artificial intelligence. The company made an expansion to the number of hotel brands that were franchised. They further obtained WoodSpring Suites, which is an extended stay economy hotel brand.
The company added more than 240 hotels across the United States. This led to an increase of extended stay hotels as well as the organization’s portfolio, the properties to about 350. Their branded properties are located in forty countries and territories along with hotels in Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East, and Scandinavia. They have an agreement with Spanish hotel operator Sercotel during the year 2018, this was to make a good impression in Spain and Latin America.
Who owns Quality Inn?
Patrick Pacious got into the position of president and chief executive officer of Choice Hotels International. He signed a franchise agreement with Jayesh Patel for a new property of Cambria Hotels in Nashville, Tennessee, along with hotels from Comfort Inn & Suites in New Orleans. In Nashville, Patel hotels have become an upscale hotel with Choice Hotels International. In New Orleans, Patrick also signed a new construction franchise agreement for a Comfort Inn & Suites property. Patrick owned the properties of Choice brands for almost two decades across various segments such as economy, midscale, upper midscale, and currently upscale. Especially with the franchise’s depth and opportunity for business growth in the organization’s scale and segments.
Jay Patel believed that if there is a growth in the customer demands there is a growth in the brand. He was a member of the Choice family and was an example of the owners who started with the organization and continued in expanding his portfolio. Patrick was excited to start his position as CEO. He signed the franchise agreement for the Cambria and Comfort brands. It was to reinforce his commitment to stay focused on the franchisee’s profitability. And he worked with them on continuing to fuel their development pipeline including their upscale segment and core brands, their brand values, brand image, brand reputation, and many more.
What kind of membership do they provide?
This is a member level, privileges of the hotels are divided into four levels, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond. To be quality and maintain Gold status in the Choice Privilege programs the customer has to stay ten nights at an affiliated property every year. The Gold Membership allows them to earn up to 10% points per stay compared to basic membership. The Gold Members have access to the dedicated reservation line with free snacks and beverages at the check-in or bonus points. It is for visiting American resorts, for instance, Comfort Suites, and Clarion.
To conclude I would like to say an interesting fact about hotels, during the 18th-century modern hotels were built with the purpose to provide hotel accommodation. The first hotel in New York called the City Hall opened at the beginning of the 1970s. During the 19th century, the first five-star hotel in the United States, Boston called Tremont House were the first one that started to welcome guests.
