Motel 6 CEO Retires After 33 Years at Economy Chain

Jim Amorosia Source: G6 Hospitality

Carrollton, Texas-based G6 Hospitality, the 55-year-old parent company behind the Motel 6 and Studio 6 hotel brands, announced this week the retirement of its longtime CEO, Jim Amorosia.

Amorosia had been with the company for the past 33 years and was appointed CEO in 2011. Under his leadership, the company doubled its portfolio and today has more than 1,400 properties in the U.S. and Canada, as well as Latin America.

In 2012, shortly after Amorosia was appointed CEO, the company was purchased by Blackstone Group whom Amorosia credited with helping significantly grow the Motel 6 brand.

Amorosia told Lodging in January, “Blackstone gave us the ability to maximize what we always knew we were. Candidly, when they acquired Motel 6, the system was a little bit tired in the sense of our product. We needed to inject capital throughout the system. And they’ve invested over a half a billion dollars to achieve that goal.”

Under Amorosia’s leadership, the company also recently signed a loyalty enrollment deal with Expedia that is similar to Expedia’s partnership with another hotel chain with a similar footprint, Red Lion Hotels Corporation.

In Amorosia’s place, G6 has appointed Rob Palleschi to serve as the company’s interim CEO. Palleschi most recently served as the company’s chief development officer and was the former CEO of TGI Friday’s, as well as a long-time executive at Hilton.

G6 Hospitality representatives declined Skift’s request for an interview with Palleschi at this time.

While the economy Motel 6 brand has grown significantly under Amorosia’s tenure, the company is also dealing with ongoing challenges.

It currently faces allegations that staff at some of its hotels aided U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement by handing over undocumented guests’ information, and the company is being sued in Washington State and in Arizona. In September, G6 admitted that this practice was taking place “at the local level” in Arizona, and said that the practice has since been “discontinued.” Phoenix New Times reporting found that more than 20 incidences where ICE had picked up undocumented immigrants from Motel 6 locations in the Phoenix area, both of which are owned by G6.