A motel, also known as a motor hotel, motor inn or motor lodge, is a hotel designed for motorists, usually having each room entered directly from the parking area for motor vehicles rather than through a central lobby. Entering dictionaries after World War II, the word motel, coined as a portmanteau of "motor hotel", originates from the Milestone Mo-Tel of San Luis Obispo, California, which was built in 1925. The term referred to a type of hotel consisting of a single building of connected rooms whose doors faced a parking lot and in some circumstances, a common area or a series of small cabins with common parking. Motels are often individually owned, though motel chains do exist.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Econo Lodge is an budget motel chain based in the United States and Canada and one of the larger subsidiaries of Choice Hotels. The properties contain a minimum of 40 guest rooms and are often located near highways or highway access. All hotels provide a free breakfast. As of December 31, 2022, there are 759 Econo Lodge hotels open with 44,697 rooms. There are Econo Lodge motels in every US state and Canadian province.
Knights Inn 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.
Rodeway Inn is a chain of economy-priced hotels in the United States and Canada. Founded by Michael Robinson in 1962, the franchise is now led by Choice Hotels corporation.
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.
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. Red Lion, headquartered in Denver, Colorado, has 90,000 rooms across more than 1,400 properties in North America.
A referral hotel chain is a type of hotel franchise. It is a type of hotel that operates independently but maintains affiliation with a given chain. To stay within the chain, the hotel must meet certain minimum criteria.
Henry R. Silverman is an American entrepreneur and private equity investor. Silverman is best known for his role in building Cendant Corporation into a multibillion-dollar business services company that provided car rentals, travel reservation services as well as real estate brokerage services and was also the largest franchisor of hotels globally.
Chartwell Leisure was an American hotel company. It was formed in 1994 as National Gaming, a spin-off of the gaming businesses of Hospitality Franchise Systems (HFS). A year later, after finding little success, the company said it was leaving the casino industry, and would seek to acquire a business in a less risky field.
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.
Travelodge Hotels is an Australian-owned brand of hotels. As at 16 February 2018, Travelodge has 18 hotels and 3,030 rooms across Australia and New Zealand
