Best Western International is the world's largest hotel brand with more than †4,000 hotels in †80 countries. Our uniqueness is found in each hotel's charm and local appeal while maintaining a commitment to quality, service and value
Best Western is a family of hotel owners and hospitality professionals from around the world in corporate offices, reservation centers and individual hotels all focused on delivering the best value, quality and superior customer service
Best Western Overview
· Based on distribution and number of locations, Best Western International is the largest hotel company operating under a single brand name with 4,000* independently owned and operated hotels.
· Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, Best Western employs 1,134 people and offers 305,612 quality guest rooms located in 80* countries and territories worldwide.
· The independent advantage offered through Best Western has been a cornerstone in U.S. markets for 61 years and in Europe for 31 years.
· All Best Western hotels in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean offer free high-speed Internet access to guests as of year-end 2004.
· In April 2006, Best Western renewed its partnership with NASCAR for another three years, extending its role as the sport's Official Hotel through the 2009 season. This unique sponsorship helps generate new consumer and business-to-business opportunities for the company.
· Best Western International is the most unique brand in the industry. Nowhere else will you find hotels that were formerly castles built by Napoleon or hotels consisting of homes for rent.
· Best Western operates consolidated reservations centers in Phoenix, Arizona and Milan, Italy.
· Best Western’s worldwide sales offices are located in Atlanta, Bangkok, Beijing, Bogota, Buenos Aires, Chicago, Dallas, Dubai, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Miami, Milan, New York City, Orlando, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paolo, San Diego, Santiago, Seattle, Seoul, Singapore, St. Louis, Sydney, Tel-Aviv, Tokyo, Toronto and Washington, DC.
· American Automobile Association and Canadian Automobile Association rate 90 percent of Best Western hotels in the US and Canada; more than 1,000 of these properties receive a three-diamond rating
· More than 90 percent of our hotels in Europe have three or four-star ratings.
· Recently, Best Western added Premier hotels in Finland, Ireland and India.
· Best Western offers members the unique advantage of retaining their independence while providing the benefits of a full-service, international lodging affiliation offering a global reservations system, marketing, advertising, purchasing, training and quality standards.
· Best Western was one of the first lodging brands to provide booking capabilities to Internet users around the world when the hospitality giant added this service on Dec. 19, 1995. On average, bestwestern.com has been booking $1 million in revenue per day for the hotel chain since January 2005.
*Numbers are approximate and can fluctuate.
History
In 2006, the Best Western International Hotel Chain will celebrate its 60th anniversary, providing quality service and hotel accommodations to leisure and corporate travelers alike. Below are some highlights from the long history of one of the world’s best-known brand names.
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| 1946 |
Best Western Motels was founded by M. K. Guertin, a hotelier with 23 years of experience in the business. The hotel chain began as an informal link between properties with each hotel recommending other hotel lodging establishments to travelers. The "referral system" consisted of phone calls from one front desk operator to another. |
| 1951 |
In a guest editorial published in American Motel Magazine, Guertin spoke of the importance of advertising properties to the general traveling public. This was considered a very revolutionary approach in the industry. |
| 1962 |
The Best Western Hotel Chain had the only hospitality reservations service covering the entire United States and Canada. |
| 1962 |
Best Western began using the crown logo with a rope border to identify member properties. |
| 1963 |
Best Western was the largest hotel motel chain in the industry with 699 member properties and 35,201 motel rooms. |
| 1964 |
The group of motels east of the Mississippi River was incorporated as Best Eastern, Inc. |
| 1966 |
The entire membership, Best Western and Best Eastern, joined under the Best Western name. A seven-person Board of Directors was elected by regional members to provide leadership and make policy decisions. Guertin retired. |
| 1966 |
The organization moved its headquarters from Long Beach, California, to Phoenix, Arizona. The Board decided to relocate because of the savings involved in centralizing operations and the potential for further expanding membership services. |
| 1966 |
A major expansion of Best Western services was announced. Changes included: Establishing a new hotel reservation center offering toll-free service for business commuters, travel agents and vacationers through arrangements with American Express; expanding into Europe, the Caribbean and the Pacific; increasing membership standards; opening sales offices in Washington, D.C., Montreal, Phoenix and Seattle; establishing tie-ins with airlines and representatives from other transportation industry members and investigating stronger infiltration of tour and business meeting markets. |
| 1972 |
Properties were required to accept six major credit cards. Hotel reservations that were charged were considered "guaranteed" and a hotel room had to be held for the entire night. Properties had the right to bill for "no show" clients. |
| 1974 |
Best Western Hotels decided to drop its referral organization image, eliminated the word "motel" from its name and began competing directly with other full-service hotel lodging chains. |
| 1976 |
Best Western began its push for foreign expansion. Affiliation agreements were signed with 411 properties in Australia and New Zealand. |
| 1977 |
To meet the demands of rapid growth, a multi-million dollar Best Western International Headquarters complex was designed and built in northeast Phoenix. |
| 1977 |
The phrase, "world's largest lodging chain" became a part of Best Western's corporate identification and advertising theme. |
| 1979 |
Best Western was accommodating 15 million guests and generating $1 billion in hotel room sales. |
| 1980 |
Agreements were signed bringing 19 properties in Denmark, 120 properties in France, 19 properties in Finland, 23 properties in Spain, 19 properties in Sweden and 93 properties in Switzerland into the international hotel chain. By this time, Best Western's 903 international affiliates comprised 34 percent of the chain's total membership. |
| 1980 |
Best Western membership rose to 2,654 hoteliers worldwide. |
| 1981 |
In August, a satellite hotel reservations center was established inside the Arizona Center for Women (ACW), a minimum-security correctional facility in Phoenix. This innovative venture, employing inmates as reservations sales agents, answered the chain's business need for a flexible work force. The program brought numerous awards and worldwide attention to Best Western. The ACW satellite hotel reservations center closed in 1992. |
| 1988 |
The Gold Crown Club® International Program for frequent travelers was launched in September. Within a year, it would report more than 200,000 members and sales of more than $40 million. |
| 1993 |
The brand identity study, now complete, recommended the adoption of a new Best Western logo and identity. On Nov. 30, the members approved the adoption of a new logo and officially retired the Gold Crown logo. |
| 1995 |
Best Western introduced its first hotel listings on the Internet at BestWestern.com. Full information on 150 member properties, including photographs, became instantly available via personal home computer. |
| 2002 |
Best Western members implemented BestRequests®, a uniform worldwide package of amenities and services. |
| 2004 |
Best Western launched the hotel industry’s largest High-Speed Internet Access (HSIA) initiative with the fastest implementation. In just eight months, the company established free wireless or hard-wired HSIA in some portion of the public areas, and at least 15 percent of hotel rooms, at all of its North American properties. |
| 2004 |
Best Western became the first-ever Official Hotel of NASCAR®. The NASCAR® travel discount RaceFan®Rate was created. |
| 2005 |
Best Western transitioned North American and international hotel reservations to a call center in Manila, Philippines. |
| 2005 |
Best Western began averaging $1 million in online hotel reservations per day through www.bestwestern.com |
