Choice Hotels
Choice Hotels International, Inc. is a hospitality franchisor based in Rockville, United States. The company, one of the largest hotel chains in the world, owns several hotel brands ranging from upscale to economy; as of 2018, Choice Hotels franchised 6,800 properties in about 40 countries and territories worldwide, with 554,000 rooms. Quality Courts United, Inc. which began as a nonprofit referral chain of seven motels in Florida, was founded in 1939. It would undergo several name changes before becoming what is known today as Choice Hotels International; the chain remained east of the Mississippi River. By the early 1960s, Quality Courts United had 600 members. All of its hotels needed to meet certain quality standards and offer amenities like air conditioning, swimming pools, paved driveways, wall-to-wall carpeting. In 1963, the organization became a for-profit corporation and changed its name to Quality Courts Motels, Inc. In 1957, Stewart W. Bainum Sr. who ran a Washington, D. C. plumbing business, opened his first hotel in Maryland.
He franchised his first Quality Courts motel in 1963. In 1968, Bainum merged his business, Park Consolidated Motels, Inc. with Quality Courts Motels, assumed the role of president and CEO, moved the company's headquarters from Daytona Beach to Silver Spring, Maryland. Lodging Magazine wrote that, by 1969, Quality Courts Motels was the world's "largest association of independent motel operators"; the company changed its name to Quality Inns International in 1972 and, in 1990, the parent company became known as Choice Hotels International. In the 1980s, the company started the industry's first market segmentation strategy, using a range of hotel brands across price points. Geographically, it expanded across the country by opening hotels in the west; the Comfort brand, which would become Choice Hotels' flagship brand, was established in 1981. The brand was marketed to family vacationers, business travelers, senior citizens to compete with Days Inn, Best Western, Friendship Inn; the company's Quality Inn hotels remained in the midscale segment, competing with Holiday Inn, Howard Johnson, Travelodge.
The now-discontinued Quality Royale brand was positioned as Choice Hotels' upscale brand, designed to compete with Marriott, Hyatt and Sheraton. In the 1980s, Choice bought Friendship Inn, Rodeway Inn, Econo Lodge. In 1989, the company introduced McSleep, an economy brand utilizing a consistent, interior-corridor design prototype designed by Rob Spurr, all new construction; the name was soon changed to Sleep Inn following litigation from McDonald's. Bainum's other business, Manor Care, Inc. which owned and managed nursing homes, bought Choice Hotels in 1990. The company spun off its hotels business in 1996. Bainum Sr. led Choice Hotels International until 1987, when his son, Stewart W. Bainum Jr. took over the role of chairman and chief executive. As of 2018, Bainum Jr. remains chairman of Choice Hotels. Choice Hotels International became publicly traded in 1996; that same year, it announced the establishment of the MainStay Suites brand, a midscale extended-stay hotel. In the mid-2000s, Choice Hotels expanded into the upscale hotel market.
The company announced in 2005 the creation of its Cambria Hotels & Suites brand renamed Cambria Hotels, the company's first new brand since MainStay Suites's creation in 1996. The Cambria brand was created as an upscale hotel chain marketed to business travelers; as of 2018, the Cambria brand had expanded to about 100 hotels open or in the pipeline, including hotels in Philadelphia, New Orleans, Savannah, Georgia. In 2008, Choice Hotels was the first industry chain to establish a "soft brand", Ascend Hotel Collection; the Ascend Hotel Collection includes upscale boutique and historic hotels whose owners are subject to fewer fixed brand standards compared with Choice's other brands. Choice Hotels began a transformation of its Comfort properties in 2012, with the company removing its franchising from 600 properties that did not meet Choice Hotels' new standards. Choice Hotels rebranded Comfort in 2018, which brought its Comfort Inn, Comfort Inn & Suites, Comfort Suites brands under one umbrella.
In October 2010, officials in Maryland and Montgomery County announced that Choice Hotels International would move its headquarters from Silver Spring, to a new 197,866 square feet facility in Rockville Town Center in Rockville. Groundbreaking occurred in August 2011, completed the move into the new headquarters in June 2013. Throughout its history, Choice Hotels introduced new features into the hotel industry, including having all hotels include non-smoking rooms, 24-hour-a-day toll-free reservations, Internet-based property management systems, the industry's first iPhone application; the company's technological developments led it to create a division called SkyTouch Technology in 2013, which markets Choice Hotels' property management system to other hotel companies. In 2014, Choice Hotels invested millions of dollars to begin a multi-year process to develop the industry's first new global reservations system and distribution platform in 27 years. A cloud-based system, choiceEDGE, launched in 2018.
The system can integrate with artificial intelligence. In 2018, Choice Hotels expanded the number of hotel brands it franchised by acquiring WoodSpring Suites, an extended-stay economy hotel brand. Adding WoodSpring's 240 hotels across the U. S. tripled the number of extended-stay hotels in the company's portfolio to around 350 properties. As of 2018, Choice Hotels-branded properties are located in more than 40 countries and territories, including hotels in Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, Scandinavia. Choice Hotels entered in
The Blackstone Group
The Blackstone Group L. P. is an American multinational private equity, alternative asset management and financial services firm based in New York City. As the largest alternative investment firm in the world, Blackstone specializes in private equity and hedge fund investment strategies. Blackstone's private equity business has been one of the largest investors in leveraged buyouts in the last decade, while its real estate business has acquired commercial real estate. Since its inception, Blackstone has invested in such notable companies as Hilton Worldwide, Merlin Entertainments Group, Performance Food Group, EQ Office, Republic Services, AlliedBarton, United Biscuits, Freescale Semiconductor and Travelport. Blackstone was founded in 1985 as a mergers and acquisitions boutique by Peter G. Peterson and Stephen A. Schwarzman, who had worked together at Lehman Brothers. Since Blackstone has become the world's largest private equity investment firm. In 2007, Blackstone became a public company via a $4 billion initial public offering to become one of the first major private equity firms to list shares in its management company on the public stock market.
Blackstone is headquartered at 345 Park Avenue in Manhattan, New York City, with eight additional offices in the United States, as well as offices in London, Dublin, Düsseldorf, Sydney, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai and Dubai. As of 2019, the company's total assets under management were US$470 billion dollars; the Blackstone Group was founded in 1985 by Peter G. Peterson and Stephen A. Schwarzman with $400,000 in seed capital; the founders named their firm "Blackstone", a cryptogram derived from the names of the two founders: "Schwarz" is German for "black". The two founders had worked together at Lehman Brothers. At Lehman, Schwarzman served as head of Lehman Brothers' acquisitions business. Prominent investment banker Roger C. Altman, another Lehman veteran, left his position as a managing director of Lehman Brothers to join Peterson and Schwarzman at Blackstone in 1987, but left in 1992 to join the Clinton Administration as Deputy Treasury Secretary. Blackstone was formed as a mergers and acquisitions advisory boutique.
Blackstone advised on the 1987 merger of investment banks E. F. Hutton & Co. and Lehman Brothers, collecting a $3.5 million fee. From the outset in 1985, Schwarzman and Peterson planned to enter the private equity business, but had difficulty in raising their first fund because neither had led a leveraged buyout. Blackstone finalized fundraising for its first private equity fund in the aftermath of the October 1987 stock market crash. After two years of providing advisory services, Blackstone decided to pursue a merchant banking model after its founders determined that many situations required an investment partner rather than just an advisor; the largest investors in the first fund included Prudential Insurance Company, Nikko Securities and the General Motors pension fund. Blackstone ventured into other businesses, most notably investment management. In 1987 Blackstone entered into a 50–50 partnership with the founders of BlackRock, Larry Fink and Ralph Schlosstein; the two founders, who had run the mortgage-backed securities divisions at First Boston and Lehman Brothers initially joined Blackstone to manage an investment fund and provide advice to financial institutions.
They planned to use a Blackstone fund to invest in financial institutions and help build an asset management business specializing in fixed income investments. As the business grew, Japanese bank Nikko Securities acquired a 20% interest in Blackstone for a $100 million investment in 1988. Nikko's investment allowed for a major expansion of its investment activities; the growth firm recruited politician and investment banker David Stockman from Salomon Brothers in 1988. Stockman had a mixed record with his investments, he left Blackstone in 1999 to start his own private equity firm, Heartland Industrial Partners, based in Greenwich, Connecticut. The firm advised CBS Corporation on its 1988 sale of CBS Records to Sony to form what would become Sony Music Entertainment. In June 1989, Blackstone acquired CNW Corporation; that same year, Blackstone partnered with Salomon Brothers to raise $600 million to acquire distressed thrifts in the midst of the savings and loan crisis. As the 1990s began, Blackstone continued its expansion into new businesses.
In 1990, Blackstone launched its fund of hedge funds business intended to manage investments for Blackstone senior management. In 1990, Blackstone extended its ambitions to Europe, forming a partnership with J. O. Hambro Magan in the UK and Indosuez in France. In 1991, Blackstone created its Europe unit to enhance the firm's presence internationally. In 1991, Blackstone launched its real estate investment business with the acquisition of a series of hotel businesses under the leadership of Henry Silverman. In 1990, Blackstone and Silverman acquired a 65% interest in Prime Motor Inn's Ramada and Howard Johnson franchises for $140 million, creating Hospitality Franchise Systems as a holding company. In October 1991, Blackstone and Silverman added Days Inns of America for $250 million. In 1993, Hospitality Franchise Systems acquired Super 8 Motels for $125 million. Silverman would leave Blackstone to serve as CEO of HFS, which would become Cendant Corporation. Blackstone made a number of notable investments in the early and mid-1990s, including Great Lakes Dredge and Do
Homewood Suites by Hilton
Homewood Suites by Hilton is an American chain of all-suite residential-style hotels managed by the Hilton Worldwide. The chain consists of nearly 450 hotels in the United States and Mexico. Most Homewood Suites hotels are independently operated by franchisees. Homewood Suites competes in the upscale tier of the extended-stay market, along with Staybridge Suites by IHG and Residence Inn by Marriott; the first Homewood Suites was founded in Omaha, Nebraska in 1989. For the next ten years, the hotel chain was owned by Memphis-based Promus Hotel Corporation, which owned Embassy Suites, Hampton Inn and Doubletree. Hilton purchased Promus in 1999 for $3.1 billion, making Homewood Suites a Hilton brand alongside the other three Promus chains. In 2000, Homewood Suites changed its name to Homewood Suites by Hilton, reflecting the change of ownership that went into effect the year before. Homewood Suites provides a free hot breakfast every morning, hosts a free Evening Social reception Monday-Thursday, consisting of draft beers, house wine, soft drinks and light food options.
Homewood Suites was named “Top Extended-Stay Hotel” in the 2010 J. D. Power & Associates North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index and “2011 Extended-stay Hotel Brand of the Year” by Harris Interactive. In 2010, Homewood Suites began a partnership with Books for Kids, a New York City based children’s literacy advocacy group; the two organizations opened a library in July 2010 in Tennessee. Homewood Suites Official Site Lewis the Duck Official Site
Corporate housing
Corporate housing is a term in the travel industry meaning renting out a furnished apartment, condo, or house on a temporary basis to individuals, military personnel, or corporations as an alternative to a traditional hotel or an extended hotel stay. According to Corporate Housing Providers Association, the industry's trade organization, corporate housing revenue was $2.36 billion in 2009 and $2.47 in 2010. The corporate housing industry has been a significant growth segment of the lodging industry for the past 20 years; as of 2015, the revenue generated by the industry reached $2.93 billion in the US, after a 7% increase over 2014, with an average stay of 84 nights. Corporate housing and extended stay hotels are two different types of accommodations. Corporate housing offers larger square footage, costs less than hotels, offers full customer service, is used for stays averaging one month or more. Corporate housing provides complete temporary housing solutions within a stable residential setting unlike extended stay hotels, which are surrounded by an open parking lot and are filled by transient guests.
The apartment units managed by corporate housing companies are furnished and the corporate housing companies rotate clients in and out of the furnished apartments and clean them between guests. Vacation rental Serviced apartment
Motel 6
Motel 6 is an American privately-owned hospitality company with a chain of budget motels in the United States and Canada. Motel 6 operates Studio 6, a chain of extended-stay hotels; the hotel brand is owned by The Blackstone Group, which established G6 Hospitality as the management company for Motel 6 and Studio 6. Motel 6 was founded in Santa Barbara, California, in 1962, by two local building contractors, William Becker and Paul Greene; the partners developed a plan to build motels with rooms at bargain rates. They decided on a $6.00 room rate per night that would cover building costs, land leases, janitorial supplies. Becker and Greene had specialized in building low-cost housing developments, they wanted to provide an alternative to other major hotel chains, such as Holiday Inn, whose locations were becoming upscale in quality and price in the 1960s, after starting out with a budget-oriented concept. Becker and Greene spent two years formulating their business model and searched for ways to cut costs as much as possible.
During the chain's early years, Motel 6 emphasized itself as a "no-frills" lodging chain with rooms featuring coin-operated black-and-white television receivers instead of the free color televisions found in the more expensive motels, along with functional interior decor, to reduce the time it took to clean the rooms. The first location in Santa Barbara had no restaurant on-site, a notable difference from other hotels of the era; as the 1960s progressed, the Motel 6 idea became popular in the lodging industry, other chains began to imitate the concept, as Motel 6 was beginning to take a small share of the market away from the traditional hotels. In 1965 Motel 6 opened its 15th property, first location outside California, in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. Realizing the need to move Becker and Green set out on an ambitious expansion program and had opened its 25th location in Gilroy, California, by 1966; the occupancy rate by was about 85 percent, well above the industry average, as a result of their success, Motel 6 became an attractive acquisition target.
Becker and Greene sold the chain to an investment group in 1968. In the early 1970s Motel 6 opened Motel 6 Tropicana, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Additionally, the chain moved east and opened a location in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 1972. By 1980 Motel 6 had reached 300 locations, it was sold to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts in 1985, who moved the chain away from its "no frills" approach and began including amenities such as telephones and color television. Market share declined throughout the 1980s, in part because of increased competition from other budget hotels. During this time, it bought out the Sixpence Inn chain in the western U. S. and Envoy Inn in the Midwestern United States and Pennsylvania. Regal 8 Motels were acquired in 1991. In 1990, the company was bought by the French-based Accor. In 1993, it opened its first high-rise location -- Motel 6 LAX in California. Unlike the majority of hotel chains, Motel 6 directly operates most of its locations. However, to expand more outside its traditional Western United States base, the chain started franchising in 1994.
Accor management took over motels, franchised by other chains. Motel 6 began to renovate all bedrooms, sold under-performing locations, upgraded door locks and other security measures. Newer properties, as well as acquisitions, have interior corridors, its competitors include America's Best Value Inn, Days Inn, Econo Lodge, Super 8 Motels. In 1999, Motel 6 launched Studio 6 Extended Stay, hotels with suites that are designed for longer stays and feature kitchenettes. In 2000 Motel 6 went international by opening its first location outside the U. S. in Burlington, Canada. In 2002 Motel 6 celebrated its 40th anniversary at its first location in Santa Barbara, California. In 2006, Accor and Motel 6 invested more than $6 million in properties to help rebuild New Orleans and Gulfport following Hurricane Katrina. One of the Motel 6 co-founders, William Becker, died of a heart attack at the age of 85 the next year. In October 2012, Accor Hotels concluded the sale of the Motel 6 chain to The Blackstone Group for $1.9 billion.
In September 2017, immigration attorneys accused Motel 6 desk clerks at two locations in the area of Phoenix, Arizona of notifying U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement when guests checked in with identification from Mexico; the attorneys said that court records showed that federal immigration agents arrested at least 20 people the Motel 6 locations over the course of seven months in 2017. Motel 6 said that the practice was "implemented at the local level without the knowledge of senior management" and every location had been given a directive that they were "prohibited from voluntarily providing daily guest lists to ICE." Additionally, Washington state filed a lawsuit in January 2018 against Motel 6 for giving the names of thousands of motel guests to U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. On April 24, 2018 the American Customer Satisfaction Index published a study of America's most popular hotel chains, placing G6 Hospitality's Motel 6 at the bottom of the category for the second year in a row.
On November 2, 2018, Plaintiffs sued Motel 6 for unlawfully providing guest information to ICE settled a proposed class action against Motel 6 for $7.6 million. In April 2019, Motel 6 agreed to pay $12 million to settle the lawsuit. Many Motel 6 locations charge customers for wireless internet access $3 per night for basic access and $5 per night for premium high bandwidth service suitable f
InterContinental Hotels Group
InterContinental Hotels Group plc, informally InterContinental Hotels or IHG, is a British multinational hospitality company headquartered in Denham, England. IHG has 5,000 hotels across nearly 100 countries. IHG includes several brands such as InterContinental, Regent Hotels, Six Senses Hotels, Kimpton Hotels and Resorts, Crowne Plaza, voco Hotels, Hotel Indigo, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Candlewood Suites, Even Hotels, Staybridge Suites; the origins of the business can be traced back to 1777, when William Bass established the Bass Brewery in Burton-upon-Trent. In 1876, its red triangle logo was the first trademark registered in the United Kingdom. In 1969, Bass Charrington, as it was at the time, launched the Crest Hotel chain, marking its first entry into the lodging sector. In 1989, the British Government limited the number of pubs which brewers could directly own, resulting in Bass's further investing in the expansion of its hotel business; this led to it purchasing Holiday Inn International from shareholders.
Pan American Airways founder Juan Trippe established the Intercontinental Hotels chain as a division of Pan Am and opened the first hotel in Belém, Brazil in 1946. On August 19, 1981, Pan Am sold the holding company Inter-Continental Hotels Corporation to UK-based Grand Metropolitan for $50 million; as GrandMet focused its core business and expanded into fast food through the purchase of Burger King, it sold IHC to the Japanese-based Saison Group in 1988. In March 1998, Saison Group sold IHC to the British brewery Bass. In 2000, Bass sold its brewing assets to the Belgian brewer Interbrew for £2.3 billion and changed its name to Six Continents. In 2003, the independent corporation InterContinental Hotels Group was created after Six Continents split into two companies: Mitchells & Butlers took control of the restaurant assets, while IHG focused on hotels and soft drinks. IHG retained Britvic, the soft drinks division, until December 2005 when it sold its interest in the company by an initial public offering.
In April/May 2014, the company rejected a $10 billion takeover bid from an unknown suitor, believed to be Starwood. In April 2017, the company announced that it been the subject of a malware attack and hackers had stolen credit card details; the company worldwide headquarters and Europe offices are in Buckinghamshire in England. The Americas office is in Georgia in Greater Atlanta; the Asia, Middle East, Africa offices are in Singapore. The Australasia offices are in Sydney; the Japan offices are in Tokyo. The Greater China offices are in Shanghai. In 2006, IHG and Lend Lease Group, joined forces in the Privatization of Army Lodging program; as of 2012, of IHG's more than 5,400 hotels, 4,433 are operated under franchise agreements, 907 were managed by the company but separately owned, eight were directly owned. IHG has 5,000 hotels across nearly 100 countries; the InterContinental Hotels Group became the target of an international boycott campaign in May 2013, over their plan to operate an Intercontinental-brand luxury hotel in Lhasa, Tibet.
According to campaigners from the Free Tibet campaign, the hotel was a "PR coup for the Chinese government". In July 2012, the Office of Fair Trading alleged that IHG had broken competition law by preventing online travel agents from discounting the price of room-only hotel accommodation. In February 2014, IHG agreed to end the practice of price fixing. In February 2017, the hotel chain admitted to a data breach, they asserted. However, in April 2017 it raised the number to 1200 hotels; the attackers had installed malware designed to access payment card data, which could be used to clone cards and make fraudulent payments. In May 2012, the UK Advertising Standards Authority warned IHG that it must not use adverts showing prices for hotel rooms excluding VAT; because the ASA thought the adverts were to be viewed by consumers who must pay VAT, it had decided the adverts were misleading. It ordered IHG. However, in August 2012, a report by Which? magazine showed that the hotel chain was still breaching VAT rules.
In November 2017, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, accused the hotel chain of reneging on a commitment to pay the living wage. In July 2016 Intercontinental Adelaide was responsible for giving at least 70 diners salmonella food poisoning. Twenty-one of these people had to be treated at hospital IHG Group has several brands including: The Crowne Plaza Liverpool John Lennon Airport is the former terminal building of Liverpool Speke Airport, constructed in the 1930s and used until 1986, its notable art deco features led to its listing as a heritage building, subsequent adaption as a hotel. The hotel in the Wilshire Grand Tower in downtown Los Angeles is the largest InterContinental in the Americas and the tallest building in Los Angeles; the InterContinental Davos is well known for its modern architecture. IHG rewards club is the loyalty programme for over 5,300 hotels under the IHG umbrella. There are three elite tiers of IHG rewards club which include Gold Elite, Platinum Elite and Spire Elite
Homelessness
Homelessness is defined as living in housing, below the minimum standard or lacks secure tenure. People can be categorized as homeless; the legal definition of homeless varies from country to country, or among different jurisdictions in the same country or region. According to the UK homelessness charity Crisis, a home is not just a physical space: it provides roots, security, a sense of belonging and a place of emotional wellbeing. United States government homeless enumeration studies include people who sleep in a public or private place not designed for use as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings. People who are homeless are most unable to acquire and maintain regular, safe and adequate housing due to a lack of, or an unsteady income. Homelessness and poverty are interrelated. In 2005, an estimated 100 million people worldwide were homeless and as many as 1 billion people live as squatters, refugees or in temporary shelter, all lacking adequate housing. In Western countries, the majority of homeless are men, with single males overrepresented.
However, current data suggests similar rates of homeless females. In 2015, the United States reported that there were 564,708 homeless people within its borders, one of the higher reported figures worldwide; these figures are underestimates as surveillance for the homeless population is challenging. When compared to the general population, people who are homeless experience higher rates of adverse physical and mental health outcomes, which renders them vulnerable to health conditions associated with climate change. Chronic disease severity, respiratory conditions, rates of mental health illnesses and substance use are all greater in homeless populations than the general population. Homelessness is associated with a high risk of suicide attempts. People experiencing homelessness have limited access to resources and are disengaged from health services, making them that much more susceptible to extreme weather events and ozone levels; these disparities result in increased morbidity and mortality in the homeless population.
There are a number of organizations. Most countries provide a variety of services to assist homeless people; these services provide food and clothing and may be organized and run by community organizations or by government departments or agencies. These programs may be supported by the government, charities and individual donors. Many cities have street newspapers, which are publications designed to provide employment opportunity to homeless people. While some homeless have jobs, some must seek other methods to make a living. Begging or panhandling is one option, but is becoming illegal in many cities. People who are homeless may have additional conditions, such as physical or mental health issues or substance addiction. Homeless people, homeless organizations, are sometimes accused or convicted of fraudulent behaviour. Criminals are known to exploit homeless people, ranging from identity theft to tax and welfare scams; these incidents lead to negative connotations on the homeless as a group. In 2004, the United Nations sector of Economic and Social Affairs defined a homeless household as those households without a shelter that would fall within the scope of living quarters due to a lack of or a steady income.
They carry their few possessions with them, sleeping in the streets, in doorways or on piers, or in another space, on a more or less random basis. In 2009, at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Conference of European Statisticians, held in Geneva, the Group of Experts on Population and Housing Censuses defined homelessness as: In its Recommendations for the Censuses of Population and Housing, the CES identifies homeless people under two broad groups: Primary homelessness; this category includes persons living in the streets without a shelter that would fall within the scope of living quarters. This category may include persons with no place of usual residence who move between various types of accommodations; this category includes persons living in private dwellings but reporting'no usual address' on their census form. The CES acknowledges that the above approach does not provide a full definition of the'homeless'. Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted 10 December 1948 by the UN General Assembly, contains this text regarding housing and quality of living: Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing and medical care and necessary social services, the right to security in the event of unemployment, disability, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
Homelessness is addressed differently according to country. The European Typology of Homelessness and Housing Exclusion was developed as a means of improving understanding and measurement of homelessness in Europe, to provide a common "language" for transnational exchanges on homelessness; the ETHOS approach confirms that homelessne
