Best Western introduces new name, logo and boutique hotel brand
Best Western International, the 69-year-old hotel company that started modestly with roadside inns, is re-inventing itself with a new name, logos and brand.
Best Western Hotels and Resorts, as it will be called, will debut a new, more contemporary master brand logo for the first time since 1993. It will also introduce GLō, a new boutique hotel brand with affordable prices, CEO David Kong announced Tuesday at the company's annual conference in Honolulu.
The changes signal to consumers that Best Western has evolved into a company that offers more than just the basic accommodations travelers wanted to stay in when the brand debuted after World War II, Kong told USA TODAY in an interview before his announcement.
"We are very much a different company today and if we maintain our current logo or do minor tweaks, it wouldn't do us justice," says Kong, who has been CEO since 2004. "We wanted to signal something exciting and different."
Best Western Hotels and Resorts now has more than 4,100 properties in 100 countries. Despite that growth, the company has struggled to project an image that it can provide a variety of different types of accommodations from budget to high-end and traditional to hip.
"The Best Western brand is in sore need of a refresh," says Chekitan Dev, professor of marketing and branding at Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration and author of Hospitality Branding. "Its logo is old, its name has no reference to the business it is in, and it's perceived as a tired brand."
Four years ago, Kong tried to convey the message that Best Western customers have choices by creating three different tiers of brands--Best Western, Best Western Plus, and Best Western Premier. Those brands will also get new individual logos, which will go to hotel owners for approval in November.
New hotel brands, alliances a boon for business travelers
Over the last decade, the company has also done an intense weeding out of properties that no longer abide by their standards. More than 1,200 properties in North America were stripped of their Best Western status.
"For us to lose that many hotels on purpose is a testament to our commitment," Kong says.
Another testament, he says, is the $2 billion the company will spend on renovations and improvements at its North American hotels by the end of 2016.
New brands
Like most other large hotel companies, Best Western is creating a new brand to appeal to younger travelers. Many hotels are trying to attract Millennials, those in their 20s and early 30s who are starting to travel and spend more than those of other demographics.
GLō hotels will be newly constructed rather than conversions of old buildings. They will primarily be located in secondary cities with high population density.
Kong says GLō hotels will literally glow with the use of LED lighting in strategic places, including a glowing blue scarf on the side of the building. A "Lite Brite" wall will greet guests outside and extend into the building behind the welcome desk. During the day, alternating blue and gold windows will keep the glow going.
Each hotel will have 70 guestrooms over four stories. Guestrooms will have multi-functional furniture to maximize space. A floor plan with side-by-side bathrooms will save about 40 to 50 square feet.
Ron Pohl, senior vice president of brand management for Best Western, says few companies are building boutique hotels in the midscale market. Rates are expected to go as low as $90, depending on the market. And because of the unique floor plan, each room will probably cost $65,000 to build.
"We expect GLō development to ramp up very quickly," he says.
This is the second new brand Best Western has introduced in two years. Last year, it launched Vib, a more upscale boutique hotel brand. The first one will open in Chicago in late summer 2016, and another 12 hotels are in the works.
In addition to changing its name and logo, the company is re-doing its website and has already introduced new mobile applications. And next January, it will begin offering a money-back satisfaction guarantee to corporations who book hotel stays for employees at Best Western.