Articles tagged “best western”

BWH Hotel Group? That's Best Western's new corporate identity, the first change in decades and one that is designed to build its new image as a chain that can offer everything from mid-market to luxury.

While most still don't think it's necessarily for them, there are a few who are starting to be open to giving it a try.

Is this the beginning of a new cycle of global hotel chains buying independent hotel groups? As competition intensifies for soft brands, more of such consolidations should not surprise anyone.

Leading Hotels of the World's $175 annual fee to join its loyalty program may be off-putting to some frugal frequent travelers. But the Leaders Club, ostensibly, is not for the frugal frequent traveler.

There's been a sea change in terms of how new boutique hotel brands are named: Instead of recycling other brand names (ahem, Clarion Pointe) and looking to active adjectives (hello, Avid and Tru), we've now entered the era of brands on a first-name basis.

We're having a moment. In the wake of the Florida school shooting, travel companies are abandoning the National Rifle Association and its assault rifle advocacy. History would tell us that no substantial reforms will come out of this. But perhaps student and corporate pressure will make things different this time.

As we've noted before, as much as hotels and online travel agencies may not necessarily love one another, they certainly need each other. Their current love-hate relationship will certainly change, however, if and when other players like Airbnb or Google become bigger players in the hotel booking space.

The answers vary but there's at least one overriding shared sentiment. Even if times are good, there's always room for improvement in any industry.

More conservative folks might talk about being "cautiously optimistic," but positivity is the prevailing sentiment this year in the hospitality industry.

Another day, another hotel soft brand collection. So, who's next? Hilton or IHG?