Founding and early years Quality Courts United, Inc. was founded in 1939 as a
nonprofit referral chain of seven motels in
Florida. The organization limited itself to locations east of the
Mississippi River. By the early 1960s, Quality Courts United had approximately 600 members. He later franchised his first Quality Courts motel in 1963. and moved the company's headquarters from
Daytona Beach to Silver Spring, Maryland.
Growth and expansion In 1981, Quality Inns announced a major nationwide expansion program, and 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
Western United States for the first time. The first hotel to become a Quality Royale franchise was the Georgetown Marbury House in
Washington, D.C., in January 1982. Comfort Inn, which would later become Choice Hotels' flagship brand, was marketed to family vacationers, business travelers, and senior citizens, Quality Inns agreed to merge its upscale Quality Royale brand with AIRCOA's Clarion Collection, which had originally been established in 1983 as a referral chain. The
Clarion brand thus replaced Quality Royale as one of Quality Inns' three franchise offerings. McDonald's won the ensuing court case in September 1988, forcing Quality Inns to change the name of the chain, whose first locations were then under construction, to
Sleep Inn. Additionally,
Microtel Inn and Suites founder Loren Ansley claimed that Quality Inns stole his business model, which he had presented to Quality executives before deciding to start his own chain. The first Sleep Inn location opened in
Salisbury, North Carolina, on May 15, 1989. Bainum Sr. led Quality Inns until 1987, when his son,
Stewart W. Bainum Jr., took over the role of chairman and chief executive. Bainum's other business, Manor Care, Inc., which owned and managed nursing homes, bought Quality Inns in 1990. In July of that year, the company acquired the
Rodeway Inn chain from Prime Motor Inns, making Quality Inns the largest hotel franchisor in the world. In August, Quality Inns bought Econo Lodge of America, owners of the
Econo Lodge and Friendship Inns chains. Shortly thereafter, the company's name was changed to Choice Hotels. The "by Journey's End" branding was later dropped. Manor Care spun off its hotels business in 1996, and Choice Hotels became a publicly traded company, holding an
initial public offering in 1997. The first MainStay Suites location opened in
Plano, Texas in November 1996. In 1997, the Friendship Inn brand was eliminated, with its locations being converted to the Rodeway brand. In July 1998, Choice Hotels created a partnership with Flag International Ltd., the largest hotel chain in
Australia, allowing Flag to use the Clarion, Quality, and Comfort brands. The brands quickly outstripped the Flag Hotel chain in popularity in Australia, and Choice Hotels acquired Flag International outright in 2003. The last remaining Flag Hotels were converted to other Choice brands in 2008. In January 2005, the company announced the creation of its new
Cambria Suites brand. The Cambria brand was created as an upscale, limited-service hotel chain marketed to business travelers. In September 2005, Choice Hotels acquired the Atlanta-based Suburban Franchise Holding Company, giving the company the franchise rights to the Suburban Extended Stay Hotel brand. The chain was originally founded as Suburban Lodges of America in 1987. The company-owned Suburban Lodges were purchased by
InTown Suites in 2002, while the franchise locations became Suburban Extended Stay Hotels. In 2022, the chain was rebranded as
Suburban Studios. 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. 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, and 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 facility in
Rockville Town Center in
Rockville. Groundbreaking occurred in August 2011, and Choice Hotels completed the move into the new headquarters in June 2013. Throughout its history, Choice Hotels introduced new features into the hotel industry, The company's technological developments also 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. 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. Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and Scandinavia. Choice Hotels entered into an agreement with Spanish hotel operator Sercotel in 2018 to increase Choice's footprint in
Spain and
Latin America. In September 2018, Choice Hotels announced
Clarion Pointe, an extension of the Clarion brand for locations with limited service. The first Clarion Pointe hotel opened on May 1, 2019, in
Sulphur Springs, Texas, converted from a former Holiday Inn Express. Choice Hotels announced the creation of a new brand of midscale extended stay hotels, Everhome Suites, in January 2020. The first Everhome Suites location opened on September 29, 2022, in
Riverside, California, after delays due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. On June 13, 2022, Choice Hotels agreed to purchase
Radisson Hotels Americas for $675 million from Jin Jiang International Holdings Co, acquiring the Radisson franchise agreements, operations and intellectual property in the United States, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean. In October 2023, Choice Hotels announced a proposal to purchase all outstanding shares of
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts for $90 per share. That offer came after Wyndham declined a direct acquisition bid from Choice. ==Corporate affairs==