Curated category
Franchises
- Hilton Garden InnHilton Garden Inn began not as a polished hotel brand but as an experiment with an awkward name. In the late 1980s, Hilton quietly launched a concept called…
- Courtyard by MarriottIn San Luis, Georgia in 1983, Courtyard by Marriott opened its first property. It was Marriott's first sister brand, a deliberate experiment in a market the…
- Sheraton Hotels and ResortsSheraton Hotels and Resorts got its name by accident. When Harvard classmates Ernest Henderson and Robert Moore picked up their third hotel, in Boston in…
- ValvolineValvoline began not in a garage or a factory, but in a doctor's bag. In the early 1860s, Dr. John Ellis, a Massachusetts-born physician, traveled to…
- Westin Hotels & ResortsSevert W. Thurston and Frank Dupar met unexpectedly during breakfast at the coffee shop of the Commercial Hotel in Yakima, Washington, in 1930.
- JW Marriott HotelsJW Marriott Hotels began with a single property in Washington, D.C. in 1984, named as a tribute to J.W. Marriott, the founder of Marriott Corporation.
- Renaissance HotelsRenaissance Hotels began not as a luxury vision but as an upscale division of a roadside motel chain. In 1981, the Ramada Renaissance brand opened its first…
- Wyndham Hotels & ResortsWyndham Hotels & Resorts claims a title that few companies in any industry can match: the largest hotel franchisor in the world.
- Le MéridienLe Meridien was born from an unusual ambition: an airline decided to run hotels. In 1972, Air France opened its first property, a thousand-room hotel in the…
- The Ritz-Carlton Hotel CompanySwiss hotelier César Ritz redefined luxury accommodation in Europe during the late 19th century. He earned the title king of hoteliers and hotelier to kings…
- Embassy Suites by HiltonEmbassy Suites by Hilton started with a simple bet: that travelers wanted more than one room. When Hervey Feldman and Holiday Inn Corporation's CEO Mike Rose…
- Kimpton Hotels & RestaurantsKimpton Hotels and Restaurants started in San Francisco in 1981 with a straightforward idea: that a hotel could feel like somewhere you actually wanted to be.