Best Western

Best Western is an international hotel brand whose roots lie in a cooperative network of independently owned roadside properties established in the United States in 1946 by M. K. Guertin. Rather than developing and owning most of its properties itself, the organization historically operated as a membership and franchise system: participating hotel owners used the Best Western name and reservation infrastructure while remaining locally owned and managed. This model enabled the brand to expand across North America and later into international markets without adopting a single standardized ownership base. The brand became associated with dependable, relatively affordable accommodation for motorists and leisure travelers. Over time, its portfolio moved beyond the original traditional motel format. Best Western developed differentiated tiers, including the core Best Western proposition, Best Western Plus for an enhanced midscale experience, and Best Western Premier for upscale hotels. The wider BWH platform also includes SureStay brands serving value-oriented and extended-stay demand, while WorldHotels adds independently distinctive upper-upscale and luxury properties. These businesses allow the group to address multiple segments while retaining a shared commercial infrastructure. Best Western’s business scope includes hotel franchising, brand standards, reservation and distribution services, loyalty marketing, sales support, digital booking tools and property-level marketing. The chain’s principal customer groups include road-trippers, families, business travelers, groups and guests seeking recognizable standards in regional or secondary destinations. Its hotel network is particularly visible in North America, although the brand and its affiliated portfolio operate internationally. A major strategic turning point came with the acquisition of WorldHotels in February 2019. The transaction expanded the group’s reach into upper-upscale and luxury lodging and gave WorldHotels access to Best Western’s e-commerce, loyalty, sales and distribution capabilities. BWH Hotels subsequently positioned itself as a multi-brand hospitality enterprise rather than only a conventional midscale chain. Marketing has increasingly emphasized direct digital reservations, localized media and loyalty engagement. Campaigns have included location-based mobile advertising, seasonal Best Western Rewards promotions, pandemic-era reassurance messaging and data-driven media buying. In 2018, Best Western partnered with IBM Watson Advertising on an interactive travel-planning advertisement that generated recommendations and booking pathways through a conversational interface. In 2024, it used dynamic digital out-of-home advertising to tailor messages to local destinations, activities and distances from individual properties. Best Western remains an active, privately held hospitality brand within BWH Hotels. Its competitive position depends on the combination of a long-established name, broad independent-owner participation, loyalty benefits, centralized distribution and a portfolio that now reaches from value and midscale lodging to upscale and luxury accommodation.

Best Western began in 1946 as a cooperative referral network for independently operated motor hotels. M. K. Guertin organized participating properties under a common identity so travelers could receive referrals to dependable accommodation while traveling between cities. The model was suited to the postwar expansion of automobile travel and allowed individual operators to benefit from shared recognition without surrendering ownership of their properties. During the following decades, the network expanded throughout the United States and Canada and developed centralized reservation, marketing and quality-assurance functions. Its name became strongly associated with roadside and regional lodging, but the organization gradually broadened its offer as customers began to expect more consistent facilities, business amenities and differentiated service levels. The creation and development of Best Western Plus and Best Western Premier helped separate the brand from a single motel format and gave franchisees routes into higher-value segments. International expansion made Best Western a global lodging system rather than solely a North American chain. Properties adopted the brand in diverse markets while retaining local ownership and character within the organization’s standards framework. In 2013, Best Western announced a management arrangement involving the Green Hill Hotel in Yangon, marking its first presence in Myanmar. The group’s portfolio strategy accelerated in the late 2010s. Best Western purchased Sweden Hotels in 2017, adding another regional hotel network. In 2018, Best Western International filed an S-1 concerning a planned conversion to a for-profit corporate structure and proposed stock issuance. The filing identified competition from online travel agencies, search platforms and expanding multi-brand lodging companies as reasons for seeking additional capital and investment in technology, marketing, reservations, loyalty and brand growth. In February 2019, Best Western completed the acquisition of WorldHotels, a collection of distinctive upper-upscale and luxury hotels. WorldHotels retained its individual identity while gaining access to Best Western’s distribution, e-commerce, sales, marketing and loyalty capabilities. The transaction materially changed the strategic scope of the enterprise, which could now serve customers and owners across a wider range of hotel categories. BWH Hotels became the umbrella for Best Western, WorldHotels and SureStay. The COVID-19 period shifted marketing toward reassurance, flexibility and efficient demand capture. Best Western and agency partner PMG used search, metasearch, predictive modeling and performance dashboards to manage reduced demand and prepare for recovery. The 2021 “See You Soon” campaign communicated cleanliness, care and an invitation to return when travelers felt ready. More recent activity has focused on localized and technology-enabled marketing. A 2024 partnership with PMG and Vistar Media used dynamic digital out-of-home creative, proximity targeting and market-specific travel imagery. The approach allowed individual hotels and destinations to be promoted with messages tied to nearby activities and travel timing. Best Western therefore combines a long-established franchise identity with increasingly centralized data, digital distribution, loyalty and portfolio management capabilities.

• 2024

  Dynamic out-of-home campaign

  [5]PMG and Vistar Media Best Western campaignvistarmedia.com

  Best Western used programmatic, proximity-based and dynamically customized outdoor advertising across U.S. markets.

• 2019

  WorldHotels acquired

  [3]Best Western acquires WorldHotelsworldhotels.com

  The transaction broadened the portfolio into upper-upscale and luxury lodging.

• 2018

  Proposed corporate conversion and stock issuance

  [6]Best Western S-1 filingsec.gov

  Best Western International filed an S-1 describing a proposed conversion to a for-profit corporation and stock issuance structure.

• 2017

  Sweden Hotels acquired

  [7]Sweden Hotels acquiredpitchbook.com

  Best Western expanded its affiliated hotel network through the acquisition of Sweden Hotels.

• 2013

  First Best Western presence in Myanmar

  [2]Best Westernen.wikipedia.org

  Best Western announced a management arrangement involving Yangon’s Green Hill Hotel.

• 1946

  Best Western network founded

  [1]Best Western timeline and storybestwestern.com

  M. K. Guertin established the cooperative hotel referral network that became Best Western.

A broadly distributed, franchise-oriented hospitality brand offering recognizable standards and loyalty benefits across value, midscale and upscale lodging segments.

• Midscale hotels · 1946

  Best Western

  The core Best Western brand provides practical full-service or limited-service accommodation for leisure, road, business and family travelers. Properties are independently operated but participate in centralized brand standards, reservations, marketing and loyalty infrastructure. The offer generally emphasizes dependable rooms, convenient locations and value rather than a uniform architectural or resort concept.

• Upper-midscale hotels

  Best Western Plus

  Best Western Plus is positioned above the core brand with enhanced facilities, design and guest amenities. It serves travelers who want a more substantial hotel experience while remaining in the mainstream price and service segment. The line includes urban, suburban, roadside and resort-area properties, with standards applied through the franchise system.

• Upscale hotels

  Best Western Premier

  Best Western Premier is the group’s upscale Best Western-branded offering. Its hotels typically emphasize more refined design, upgraded rooms, stronger food-and-beverage propositions and business or leisure amenities. Because the portfolio is internationally franchised, the physical character of properties can vary by market while remaining within the brand’s positioning.

• Hotel loyalty program

  Best Western Rewards

  Best Western Rewards is the loyalty program supporting direct booking, repeat stays and member promotions across participating hotels. Marketing materials describe points, elite-status benefits and promotional free-night opportunities as mechanisms for retaining guests and shifting reservations toward Best Western’s own booking channels.

• Upper-upscale and luxury hotel collection · 2019

  WorldHotels

  WorldHotels is a collection of distinctive independent hotels and resorts acquired by Best Western in 2019. It retains a separate identity and individual property character while using BWH Hotels’ distribution, marketing, technology and loyalty capabilities. The collection extends the group beyond conventional midscale lodging.

• 2024Dynamic Digital Out-of-Home Campaign

  United States

  PMG and Vistar Media delivered proximity-targeted outdoor advertising near Best Western hotels in selected metropolitan areas. Dynamic templates adapted imagery and copy to local activities, destinations and distances from nearby properties.

  Outcome. The strategy provided localized visibility for franchise properties across spring, summer and fall travel periods while allowing one creative system to serve many markets.

  Source
• 2021See You Soon

  United States and Canada

  Launched during the travel recovery period, this campaign used reassuring, emotionally oriented messaging about care, cleanliness and the possibility of returning to travel when guests felt ready.

  Outcome. The campaign supported the recovery of summer bookings through social, television, digital and other integrated channels.

  Source
• 2019Stay 2X and Get a Free Night

  Worldwide Best Western Rewards markets

  A spring loyalty promotion offered eligible Best Western Rewards members a free night after two qualifying stays booked through Best Western’s direct channel. The integrated campaign used multiple media touchpoints to encourage direct reservations and program engagement.

  Outcome. The promotion was designed to improve member retention, increase bookings through bestwestern.com and encourage loyalty-program enrollment.

  Source
• 2018Best Western Watson Ad

  North America

  Best Western and IBM Watson Advertising created a conversational interactive advertisement. Users could describe travel plans and preferences, after which the experience offered travel tips, local hotel recommendations, special offers, virtual hotel tours and booking pathways.

  Outcome. The campaign positioned Best Western as the first hospitality brand to launch a Watson Ads campaign and emphasized personalized digital engagement.

  Source

• 2019

  Acquire WorldHotels to enter higher-end lodgingM&A

  Background

  Best Western sought to broaden its portfolio beyond its traditional mainstream hotel positioning and strengthen its global presence.

  Action taken

  The company completed the acquisition of WorldHotels, an upper-upscale and luxury collection of independent hotels and resorts.

  Aftermath

  WorldHotels retained its distinctive identity while receiving access to BWH Hotels’ distribution, e-commerce, sales, marketing and loyalty infrastructure.

  Source

• 2018

  Proposed conversion to a for-profit corporationStrategy

  Background

  The S-1 cited pressure from online travel agencies, search and portal companies, and larger competitors with broader portfolios and loyalty programs.

  Action taken

  Best Western International proposed a corporate conversion and described a contemplated issuance of common stock to members and eligible franchisees.

  Aftermath

  The filing presented investment in marketing, technology, reservation systems, loyalty rewards and brand expansion as intended uses of the new capital structure.

  Source

• 2021-12-02

  Best Western appoints Jay Pricher as general counsel[10]Best Western任命Jay Pricher为总法律顾问prnewswire.com

  Reported: 2021-12-02

  Best Western Hotels & Resorts announced Jay Pricher's appointment as General Counsel. Pricher previously served as Vice President of Legal.

• 2021-12-02

  Larry Cuculic assumes Best Western president and CEO role[10]Best Western任命Jay Pricher为总法律顾问prnewswire.com

  Reported: 2021-12-02

  The announcement states that Larry Cuculic assumes the President and CEO role at Best Western Hotels & Resorts.

1. 1Best Western timeline and storybestwestern.com
2. 2Best Westernen.wikipedia.org
3. 3Best Western acquires WorldHotelsworldhotels.com
4. 4Best Western Watson Adhotelmanagement.net
5. 5PMG and Vistar Media Best Western campaignvistarmedia.com
6. 6Best Western S-1 filingsec.gov
7. 7Sweden Hotels acquiredpitchbook.com
8. 8Stay 2X and Get a Free Nightshare.ideascollide.com
9. 9See You Soonpmg.com
10. 10Best Western任命Jay Pricher为总法律顾问prnewswire.com