| 1946
| Best Western Motels was founded by M. K. Guertin, a hotelier with 23 years of
experience in the business. The hotel chain began as an informal link between properties
with each hotel recommending other hotel lodging establishments to travelers. The
"referral system" consisted of phone calls from one front desk operator to another.
|
| 1951
| In a guest editorial published in American Motel Magazine, Guertin spoke of the
importance of advertising properties to the general traveling public. This was
considered a very revolutionary approach in the industry.
|
| 1962
| The Best Western Hotel Chain had the only hospitality reservations service covering the entire
United States and Canada.
|
| 1962
| Best Western began using the crown logo with a rope border to identify
member properties.
|
| 1963
| Best Western was the largest hotel motel chain in the industry with 699 member properties
and 35,201 motel rooms.
|
| 1964
| The group of motels east of the Mississippi River was incorporated as
Best Eastern, Inc.
|
| 1966
| The entire membership, Best Western and Best Eastern, joined under the
Best Western name. A seven-person Board of Directors was elected by regional
members to provide leadership and make policy decisions. Guertin retired.
|
| 1966
| The organization moved its headquarters from Long Beach, California, to Phoenix,
Arizona. The Board decided to relocate because of the savings involved in centralizing
operations and the potential for further expanding membership services.
|
| 1966
| A major expansion of Best Western services was announced. Changes included:
Establishing a new hotel reservation center offering toll-free service for business
commuters, travel agents and vacationers through arrangements with American
Express; expanding into Europe, the Caribbean and the Pacific; increasing
membership standards; opening sales offices in Washington, D.C., Montreal,
Phoenix and Seattle; establishing tie-ins with airlines and representatives from
other transportation industry members and investigating stronger infiltration of
tour and business meeting markets.
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| 1972
| Properties were required to accept six major credit cards. Hotel reservations that were
charged were considered "guaranteed" and a hotel room had to be held for the entire night.
Properties had the right to bill for "no show" clients.
|
| 1974
| Best Western Hotels decided to drop its referral organization image, eliminated the word "motel" from its name and
began competing directly with other full-service hotel lodging chains.
|
| 1976
| Best Western began its push for foreign expansion. Affiliation agreements were signed with 411 properties in Australia
and New Zealand.
|
| 1977
| To meet the demands of rapid growth, a multi-million dollar Best Western International Headquarters complex was
designed and built in northeast Phoenix.
|
| 1977
| The phrase, "world's largest lodging chain" became a part of Best Western's corporate identification and
advertising theme.
|
| 1979
| Best Western was accommodating 15 million guests and generating $1 billion in hotel room sales.
|
| 1980
|
Agreements were signed bringing 19 properties in Denmark, 120 properties in France, 19 properties in Finland, 23 properties in Spain, 19 properties in Sweden and 93 properties in Switzerland into the international hotel chain.
By this time, Best Western's 903 international affiliates comprised 34 percent of the chain's total membership.
|
| 1980
| Best Western membership rose to 2,654 hoteliers worldwide.
|
| 1981
| In August, a satellite hotel reservations center was established inside the Arizona Center for Women (ACW),
a minimum-security correctional facility in Phoenix. This innovative venture, employing inmates as reservations
sales agents, answered the chain's business need for a flexible work force. The program brought numerous awards and
worldwide attention to Best Western. The ACW satellite hotel reservations center closed in 1992.
|
| 1988
| The Gold Crown Club® International Program for frequent travelers was launched in September. Within a year, it would
report more than 200,000 members and sales of more than $40 million.
|
| 1993
| The brand identity study, now complete, recommended the adoption of a new Best Western logo and identity.
On Nov. 30, the members approved the adoption of a new logo and officially retired the Gold Crown logo.
|
| 1995
| Best Western introduced its first hotel listings on the Internet at BestWestern.com. Full information on 150 member properties, including
photographs, became instantly available via personal home computer.
|
| 2002
| Best Western members implemented BestRequests®, a uniform worldwide
package of amenities and services.
|
|
2004
| Best Western launched the hotel industry’s largest High-Speed Internet Access
(HSIA) initiative with the fastest implementation. In just eight months, the company
established free wireless or hard-wired HSIA in some portion of the public areas,
and at least 15 percent of hotel rooms, at all of its North American properties.
|
|
2004
| Best Western became the first-ever Official Hotel of NASCAR®. The NASCAR® travel discount RaceFan®Rate was created.
|
|
2005
| Best Western transitioned North American and international hotel reservations to a call center in Manila, Philippines.
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|
2005
| Best Western began averaging $1 million in online hotel reservations per day through www.bestwestern.com.
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