ORLANDO, FL— At its annual conference here, La Quinta Corp. detailed its long range plans to grow both its namesake brand and the recently acquired Baymont brand to about a 1,000 properties each worldwide. Much of the new growth will come in the form of franchising, although La Quinta is also eying further corporately-owned property growth in urban gateway markets and possibly through future portfolio acquisitions. In December, La Quinta added three Massachusetts hotels to its portfolio through a corporate acquisition as part of its commitment to showing the brand relevance and recognition nationwide. “We have always advertised nationally, so the La Quinta brand is known on a national level,” said Butch Cash, chairman/CEO. “And there is no market where we are over-saturated, so there is a lot of virgin territory.” In addition to the recent acquisition in Massachusetts, the company is also looking at opportunities to grow in other directions. “There are opportunities to be in other segments or to grow internationally,” Cash said. “The question is what is the right deal and what makes sense for us.” “In the future we would would like to grow through acquisitions to leverage the existing brands,” said David Rea, newly named president/COO of the company. Corporately, the company is also focusing on adding urban market locations to act “as billboards for the brand,” Cash said. The company has opened La Quinta properties in Manhattan, San Francisco and New Orleans. Redevelopment of its existing properties is another direction the company is headed with corporate-owned properties. For example, in its San Antonio location, the site of the original La Quinta Inn, the company converted that property into a 350-room, 14-story hotel with meeting space to take advantage of its prime location and to act as a beacon for the brand. Most new La Quinta properties in coming years will most likely be in the form of new development, while Baymont growth will more likely come in the form of conversions, according to Rea. In 2006, the company plans to add no less than 50 LaQuinta properties, and 25 Baymont properties; its current portfolio stands at 400 La Quinta and 182 Baymont properties. But eventually, Cash sees the brands at about 1,000 properties each, he said. Another main focus is growing average daily rate and RevPAR at existing properties, Cash told attendees at the conference. Full systems integrations have been completed to give franchisees of both Baymont and La Quinta greater efficiencies. Shortly, the company expects to integrate its “Returns” guest rewards programs enabling guests to redeem points at either brand. However, the company is carefully maintaining the separate identities of each brand to build on the guest loyalties each has built.
Butch Cash