Phoenix (April 5, 2018) – Best Western® Hotels & Resorts today announced that just one and a half years since the launch of its unique franchise model – SureStay Hotel Group – the brand has amassed 52 properties worldwide and boasts a robust pipeline of 45 more. Since making its official debut in fall 2016, SureStay® has served as a welcome alternative for upper-economy/lower-midscale travelers, offering consistent and quality levels of value, comfort and cleanliness. The brand has also garnered significant interest among developers with its competitive fee structure and access to Best Western’s powerhouse brand.
Best Western Hotels & Resorts embarked upon a brand refresh in 2015, spearheading the creation of eight new global brands (totaling eleven brands now, within the portfolio). In that time, the company has continued to experience tremendous growth in both size and scale, as well as penetration in diverse markets globally. This is in part due to Best Western’s creation of innovative, market-leading brands for the hospitality industry, including SureStay Hotel Group, which have delivered impressive results to owners. In a short period of time, SureStay hotels have already seen impressive results. Best Western Rewards® (BWR®) revenue contribution for North America SureStay/SureStay Plus® Hotels is at 36.1% currently, and Best Western’s reservations system, LYNX, has delivered 40.2% of bookings, and total brand contribution is 62.3% YTD (through February 2018).
“On the heels of Best Western’s transformative brand refresh, our brand remains committed to identifying opportunities for growth and evolution that foster the needs of today’s travelers and developers,” said David Kong, President and CEO of Best Western Hotels & Resorts. “SureStay Hotel Group was introduced to provide reliable guest experiences and quality hotel products in the upper- economy/lower-midscale market, and the tremendous results SureStay has realized demonstrates that we’ve achieved exactly what we set out to do.”
The majority of SureStay Hotel Group applicants are seeking to reposition and strengthen their existing hotel assets, often as a result of new ownership or renovations. Best Western conversions also comprise a large portion of SureStay Hotel Group properties. Comprised of three distinctive brands – SureStay Hotel by Best Western (classic economy), SureStay Plus Hotel by Best Western (premium economy) and SureStay Collection® by Best Western (lower-midscale soft brand) – SureStay Hotel Group’s rapid success can be credited to its unique, competitive fee structure and Best Western’s staunch reputation for enhancing the guest travel experience by providing real, consistent value and an industry-leading, return-guest loyalty program. The brand provides an easy path to hoteliers who are committed to providing a superior guest experience but wish to avoid the high investment costs mandated by most brand standards.
“We spent a lot of time listening to the needs of developers as we designed SureStay Hotel Group and what we heard was they wanted fair franchise terms, a decent fee model, and best in class support,” said Ron Pohl, Chief Operations Officer and Senior Vice President of Best Western Hotels & Resorts. “The result is the creation of a brand that has far surpassed our expectations in growth, quality, and scale.”
Properties must maintain a minimum 3.5 TripAdvisor® rating, agree to a satisfaction guarantee and unannounced inspections. The brand’s focus is to: create consumer relevance and confidence through unprecedented quality and care; and produce developer value by offering fair franchise terms, a competitive fee model, best-in-class support and a connection to Best Western’s expansive scale – which is critically important in advancing hotels’ negotiating power and creating advantageous OTA terms.
For more information on Best Western Hotels & Resorts, please visit BestWestern.com.
