Clarion Hotel

Choice Hotels International, Inc

Company logo
Type	Public
Traded as	: CHH
Industry	Lodging/Travel
Founded	1939; 78 years ago (1939)
Headquarters	Rockville, Maryland, U.S.
Number of locations	6,372
Area served	World Wide
Key people	Steve Joyce, President and CEO
Products	Comfort Inn Comfort Suites Quality Inn Sleep Inn Clarion Cambria Hotel & Suites Mainstay Suites Suburban Extended Stay Hotel Econo Lodge Rodeway Inn Ascend Hotel Collection
Revenue	US$924.6 million (2016)
Net income	US$139.4 million (2016)
Number of employees	1,300 employed in Headquarters
Website	Choicehotels.com

Choice Hotels International, Inc. is an American hospitality holding corporation based in Rockville, Maryland, in the United States. The company owns the hotel and motel brands Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality Inn, Sleep Inn, Clarion, Cambria Hotel & Suites, Mainstay Suites, Suburban Extended Stay, Econo Lodge, Rodeway Inn, and Ascend Hotel Collection. The company manages 6,379 properties worldwide. There are 505,278 rooms, with approximately $45.80 in revenue per room, totaling $758 million in revenue as of April 2016.

The company was started in 1939 as Quality Courts, a referral chain consisting of seven motel owners in the South. It published the names of all properties complying with its standards and referred guests to the member properties. In 1941, the group incorporated as Quality Courts United. Later, the motel chain operated under the name Quality Motels (1963–1971) and Quality Inns International (since 1972). Quality Courts United accepted franchise hotels without strict norms or guidelines from the company. This is different from Holiday Inn which from its beginning implemented numerous mandatory standards and guidelines (e.g., room size and amenities) at every one of its locations. Also, Quality Inn accepted franchisees with existing hotels.

During its early years, Quality Courts' operations were entirely in areas of the United States east of the Mississippi River and portions of Canada. From 1946 to 1964, Quality had a marketing partnership with Best Western, whose properties were located mostly west of the Mississippi River, and thus not in direct competition with Quality. It was abandoned in 1964 as Best Western expanded into the eastern U.S. with its Best Eastern operation (which was replaced by a nationwide Best Western operation in 1967). Quality Courts began its efforts toward national coverage in 1966 when it opened a motel in St. Louis, Missouri and two in Texas in Houston and Arlington.