Company type | Subsidiary |
---|---|
Industry | Lodging |
Founded | 1974 |
Founder | Cardinal Industries, Inc. |
Headquarters | Denver, Colorado, U.S. |
Number of locations | 200+ |
Area served | United States, Canada |
Parent | Red Lion Hotels Corporation |
Website | www |
Knights Inn (officially Knights Franchise Systems, Inc.) is an American full-limited service hotel chain owned by Red Lion Hotels Corporation and based in Denver, Colorado. Knights Inn used to be built with all-exterior corridors and medieval-inspired architecture, but the chain now has updated options for all Knights Inn properties.
Knights Inn started in Columbus, Ohio when its first location opened in 1974. The Columbus-based Cardinal Industries, Inc., former manufacturer of prefabricated buildings such as apartments and motels, developed the chain. [1] The chain utilized extensive landscaping and Tudor architecture, and all properties featured only one story. [2] The buildings were also prefabricated, and were shipped on trucks to their sites.
Knights Inn introduced Arborgate Inn, a "no-frills" brand featuring fewer amenities and more modern architecture, [3] along with a higher-end variant called Knights Stop. [2] Knights Inn filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1989, one year after the introduction of Arborgate Inn. [2]
Hospitality Management Systems (HMS) acquired the Knights Inn franchise and management contract rights from Cardinal Industries in 1991. At this point, many properties had begun re-branding to other companies, most notably Motel 6, Travelodge, and Days Inn; conversely, HMS began acquiring buildings from other chains and re-branding them to Knights Inn, thus abandoning the chain's architecture standards. HMS successfully sued the owners of properties re-branded from Knights Inn and forced them to alter the appearances of their buildings. [2]
Cendant purchased Knights Inn in 1995. At this same time, the sister brands were discontinued. In 2004, Cendant merged the Villager Inn brand, which it had previously acquired, into the Knights Inn division. [4]
Cendant spun off its hotel properties as Wyndham Worldwide in 2006. In November 2007, there were 225 properties open in the United States and Canada.
On April 4, 2018, Wyndham Worldwide announced it was selling Knights Inn to Red Lion Hotels Corporation, [5] a transaction which closed on May 14, 2018. [6] As part of the ownership transition, the brand was removed from the Wyndham Rewards loyalty program as of May 2, 2018 [7] and is now part of Red Lion's Hello Rewards loyalty program.
Howard Johnson's, or Howard Johnson by Wyndham, is an American hotel chain with locations worldwide, as well as a former restaurant chain. The chain began as a restaurant founded by Howard Deering Johnson in 1925; in the 1950s, the company expanded operations by opening hotels, then known as Howard Johnson's Motor Lodges, which were often located next to restaurants. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, it was the largest restaurant chain in the U.S., with more than 1,000 combined company-owned and franchised outlets.
Radisson Hotels is an international hotel chain headquartered in the United States. Formerly a division of the Radisson Hotel Group, it operates the brands Radisson (Core), Radisson Blu, Radisson Red, Radisson Collection, Country Inn & Suites, and Park Inn by Radisson, among others, until it was acquired by Choice Hotels in 2022.
Cendant Corporation was an American provider of business and consumer services, primarily within the real estate and travel industries. In 2005 and 2006, it broke up and spun off or sold its constituent businesses. Although it was based in New York City, the majority of its headquarters employees were in Parsippany-Troy Hills, New Jersey.
Days Inn is a hotel chain headquartered in the United States. It was founded in 1970 by Cecil B. Day, who opened the first location in Tybee Island, Georgia. The brand is now a part of the Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey, which used to be a part of Cendant. As of December 31, 2018, Days Inn includes 1,728 locations worldwide with 137,678 rooms.
Red Roof Inn is an American economy hotel chain in the United States with over 600 properties globally, primarily in the Midwest, Southern, and Eastern United States. Red Roof Inn is a pet-friendly hotel chain.
Ramada is a large American multinational hotel chain owned by Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. As of December 31, 2022, it operates 851 hotels with 120,344 rooms across 63 countries under the Ramada brand.
Choice Hotels International, Inc. is an American multinational hospitality company based in North Bethesda, Maryland. The company, which is one of the largest hotel chains in the world, owns several hotel brands ranging from upscale to economy. As of the third quarter 2023, Choice Hotels franchised nearly 7,500 hotels, representing nearly 630,000 rooms, in 46 countries and territories.
AmeriHost Inn was a small chain of hotels located in the United States and Canada. The chain consisted of two- or three-story interior-corridor buildings constructed based on the company's prototype designs. Properties were usually a long, two- or three-story building with a gabled or lobby and public area at one end. All properties featured indoor pools and consistent amenities, which was the chain's main selling point. Founded in 1989 by (now) Arlington Hospitality, Cendant Corporation purchased the franchise rights in the late 1990s. Arlington continued to build and develop AmeriHost Inns using the prototype it originally created for the chain during this time. However, Cendant granted a small number of AmeriHost franchises to existing properties that do not conform to the original prototype standards, during the start of the millennium.
Travelodge refers to several hotel chains around the world. Current operations include: the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Spain, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and several countries in Asia. As of December 31, 2018, it has 435 properties with 31,005 rooms.
Super 8 by Wyndham, commonly known as Super 8, is an American hotel brand, being the world's largest budget hotel chain with over 2,000 locations worldwide. The chain is a subsidiary of Wyndham Hotels and Resorts. The original room cost was $8.88 per night. As of October 2022, the brand website listed 2,091 hotels worldwide.
La Quinta Inns & Suites is a chain of limited service hotels in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Honduras. La Quinta Holdings, Inc. first sold shares to the public in April 2014. La Quinta has headquarters in Irving, Texas. As of December 31, 2018, the company owns and operates 914 properties with 89,456 rooms.
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc. is an American hotel company based in Parsippany, New Jersey, United States. It describes itself as the largest hotel franchisor in the world, with 9,280 locations. It has a portfolio of 20 hotel brands, including Baymont, Days Inn, Howard Johnson, La Quinta, Ramada, Super 8, Travelodge, and Wyndham.
Wingate by Wyndham is a brand of independently owned hotels that targets business travelers.
Baymont Inn & Suites is a hotel franchise owned by Wyndham Hotels & Resorts and based in the United States. As of December 31, 2018, it has 513 properties with 40,541 rooms.
Travel + Leisure Co. is an American timeshare company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. It develops, sells, and manages timeshare properties under several vacation ownership clubs, including Club Wyndham and WorldMark by Wyndham, and provides timeshare exchange services, primarily through RCI.
Vantage Hospitality Group Inc. was an American hotel corporation, operating hotels in the United States and internationally. Its brands include Best Value Inn and Lexington by Vantage. In 2016, Vantage Hospitality Group was acquired by Red Lion Hotels Corp.
Red Lion Hotels is a full-service, midscale hotel brand owned by Red Lion Hotels Corporation.
Red Lion Hotels Corporation, doing business as RLH Corporation, is an American hospitality corporation that primarily engages in the franchising, management and ownership of upscale, mid-scale and economy hotels.
Days Inn China is the registered trademark of Days Inns Worldwide for Greater China market. Established in 2004, Days Inn China is one of the fastest growing hotel chains in China today, with hotel franchise and management agreements in more than 80 cities. Days Inn China master franchise is held and managed by Wyndham Group USA
Exel Inn was an American lodging chain based in Madison, Wisconsin. It was founded as Interstate Inn in 1972 by David Stauffacher. The first one was located on East Towne Boulevard in Madison. Stauffacher changed the motel's name to Exel Inn in 1974 after he was unable to get a copyright for the chain's original logo, which incorporated the Interstate Highway System shield. Throughout the chain's history, Stauffacher operated it with his family.