Best Western is known for it’s US road side motels and economy and mid-scale hotels worldwide, but they have been trying to go upscale. Now, they have acquired the WorldHotels, a chain of 300 upscale and luxury hotels, based in Frannkfurt, Germany. While the focus of WorldHotels has been Europe, they have a number of high-end resort properties around the world, including aspirational destinations like the Maldives!
My image of Best Western are road-side motels across the rural United States, with outside corridors and parking in front. They have been adding more modern brands, like Glo and Vib, but there are only a handful of those new hotels. They have also inched upwards in the market, by introducing BW Premier Collection for upscale hotels and BW Signature Collection for upper mid-scale hotels, but often the different BW brands are difficult to distinguish.
Now, in one big swoop, Best Western is adding 300 upper upscale and luxury hotels around the world by buying WorldHotels. The chain has three different categories, called “Luxury”, “Elite” and “Distinctive”. Luxury includes resorts like the Amilla Fushi in the Maldives pictured above or the Upper House in Stockholm, pictured below.
The Distinctive Collection features more affordable hotels, like the very stylish Ameritania Hotel New York.
For Best Western, this is a big and important change, as they get access to a market segment that they had no presence in. They get a large number of upscale and luxury hotels, making them an instant player in this segment.
WorldHotels gets access to Best Western’s marketing system and loyalty program.
The latter also makes this acquisition interesting for Best Western Rewards members – all those hard-earned points from mediocre Best Western hotels in the US can (hopefully soon) be redeemed at these aspirational properties around the world. After little luck in redeeming my Best Western points in the past, I might hold on to them for a little longer in the hope for some very rewarding stays indeed.
I will keep you posted on the developments. If you’d like to get more travel related news or deals like this from around the world, please follow me on Twitter – I’m posting news daily, so you can stay up to date on the world of travel with my Twitter updates! Or, for a weekly update, sign up for my newsletter for a Sunday Summary!