Activities
Choice Hotels Europe is the trading name of Quality Hotels Ltd, a subsidiary of Choice Hotels International (CHI), which has grown from a small chain of US roadside hotels in the 1930s into one of the largest lodging franchisors in the world.
Choice-branded properties range from limited-service to full-service hotels in the economy, mid-scale and upscale segments.
Choice Hotels Europe, through its affiliates, has been involved in third-party direct franchising agreements for the Comfort, Quality and Clarion brands for CHI in Europe (except for Scandinavia, which has been handled by Choice Hotels Scandinavia) since 2006 and in the UK and Ireland since 2008.
CHI terminated in January 2009 its master franchise agreement with UK-based franchisee Friendly Hotels (which subsequently became CHE Group and latterly as the Real Hotel Group). Friendly acquired the master franchise for the UK and Ireland in 1994 and for most of Europe in 1996. The master franchise agreement for Europe was terminated in late 2006.
- The Comfort brand was launched by CHI in 1981 as a premium budget brand with mid-market features, with many offering restaurants, swimming pools and meeting rooms.
- Quality, which dates back to the 1940s, is a mid-market, three- to four-star full-service brand offering licensed restaurants, professional business services and recreational facilities. Quality inns, hotels, suites and resorts are located in capital cities, major regional centres and resort locations.
- Clarion hotels, suites and resorts are an international brand launched in 1987 offering facilities for business and leisure travellers that include restaurants, room service, conference and fitness facilities. The Clarion Collection sub-brand was launched in 2003 for boutique and historic hotels.
The CHI stable of brands also includes Cambria Suites, Comfort Suites, Sleep Inn, Mainstay Suites, Suburban Extended Stay, Econo Lodge, Rodeway Inn and the membership collection Ascend Collection.
The Sleep Inn brand (launched by CHI as a second premium-economy brand) came to the UK in 2002 but the properties were subsequently converted by the Real Hotel Group to its own brand between 2007 and 2008.
Timeline
- 1939: The company is founded as an association of independent hotel owners in Florida, which become the US’s first hotel chain, Quality Courts United
- 1941-1970: The group becomes the first in the US to provide travel directories (1941); 24-hour desk service and in-room telephones (1954); guaranteed reservations (1963); and toll-free reservations (1970).
- 1972: The company is renamed Quality Inns International after adopting the franchise model. Within a few years, only 38 hotels are company owned while around 300 are owned by independent operators.
- 1974: Quality Inns International opens its first European hotel, the Quality Motel in Ratingen, West Germany.
- 1981-2: The company becomes the first in the US to segment hotels into different markets with the introduction of the Comfort Inn and Quality Royale (now Clarion) brands.
- 1984: Quality Inns Internationalis the first lodging company in the USA to offer no-smoking rooms in every hotel
- 1987: The Quality Royale brand is renamed Clarion, while the Comfort Suites and Quality Suites divisions are launched as the first mid-market all-suite chains. .
- 1989: Quality launches its Sleep Inn economy brand.
- Early 1990s: Quality buys three economy-focused chains - (Rodeway Inn, EconoLodge and Friendship Inns (which are later absorbed into the first two brands).
- 1990: The group changes its name to Choice Hotels International to better reflect its presence in countries outside the USA. By 2002, it is the world’s largest franchise hotel chain.
- 1995: CHI is the first to launch a hotel booking website that provides real-time access to its reservation system in the USA.
- 1996: CHI launches the first commission system in the US that expedited travel agent payments. The UK’s Friendly Hotels (which became a Choice franchisee in 1994) is granted the master franchise for the UK and Ireland, followed in 1998 by the master franchise for Continental Europe, excepting Scandinavia.
- Late 1990s: CHI launches the extended Mainstay Suites brand and the Choice Privileges loyalty programme.
- 2002: Construction begins on the first UK Sleep Inn, in Leeds.
- January 2005: CHI launches Cambria Suites, an upscale, select-service all-suite hotel brand, designed to provide a healthy return on investment for developers.
- September 2005: CHI buys the Suburban Extended Stay Hotel chain, which comprises 67 rural properties.
- Fourth-quarter 2006: CHI takes back the franchise for Austria, Belgium, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic and Switzerland from the Real Hotel Company.
- January 2008: CHI terminates the Real Hotel Company’s master franchise for the UK.
- 2008: CHI extends its Choice Privileges loyalty programme into Europe. The scheme has more than seven million members worldwide.
Financial snapshot
Revenue 2008: $641.68m (2007: $615.49m)
Net income 2008: $100.2m (2007: $111.3m)
Adjusted EBITDA 2008: $200.5m (2007: $198.1m)
These results are for Choice Hotels International
Operating data
Total number of hotels open: 5,747 (Europe: 393)
Total number of rooms open: more than 455,000
Total number of hotels under development: 1,074 (Europe: 17)
Total number of rooms open and under development: 552,066 (Europe: 40,843)
Number of hotels under construction at 31 December 2008: 987
Hotels open by brand worldwide
Comfort inns, hotels, suites and resorts: 2,531 (Europe: more than 150)
Quality inns, hotels, suites and resorts: 1,239 (Europe: 150)
Clarion hotels, suites and resorts and Clarion Collection: 292 in 15 countries
Strategy
- Continue core brand market share, unit growth and brand performance improvements
- Leverage financial capacity/strength to expand scale of emerging brands
- Evaluate opportunities to enter new segments
- Continue international expansion
Chief executive
Duncan Berry
61-65 Great Queen Street
Covent Garden
London
WC2B 5DA
Tel: 020 7061 9656
Fax: 020 7061 9657
E-mail: abigail_murphy@choicehotels.com
Website: http://www.choicehotels.eu
