PHOENIX—Best Western added 58 hotels to the brand during the company’s second fiscal quarter ending May 31, 2003. Twenty-nine of those were North American properties while the other 29 were international additions bringing the brand’s totals to 4,057 properties and 309,562 rooms worldwide.
In North America, 23 of the newly added properties were formerly independent properties or conversions from other brands. The remaining six hotels were new construction projects.

Notable North American additions in the second quarter include: Best Western Clermont in Clermont, Ohio-113 rooms; Best Western Charter House Hotel Downtown in Winnipeg, Manitoba-86 rooms; Best Western Garden Inn in Salt Lake City, Utah-311 rooms; Best Western Regency Inn and Conference Center in Greenville, Miss.-99 rooms and the Best Western Prestige Inn in Monroe, Mich.-120 rooms.

“We achieved steady growth during the second quarter and we are still on track with our development goals for the year,” said Mark Williams, vice president, North American Development. “I am especially pleased with the caliber of hotels our team has signed including the Best Western Rocklin Park Hotel in Rocklin, Calif. which has the distinction of a four-diamond, AAA-rating.”

The Best Western Rocklin Park Hotel features 67 rooms with complimentary high-speed Internet access. Amenities include bocce ball, on-site putting green, wireless meeting facilities and an award-winning restaurant.

Internationally, Best Western continued development efforts with targeted additions in the Asia-Pacific region and throughout Europe.

Australia led the way with four new hotels including the Best Western Tudor-Box Hill, a 72-room property in Melbourne. New Zealand also added four hotels during the quarter, while three more opened throughout Asia.

In Europe, the brand added three hotels apiece in France and Great Britain, followed closely by two hotels each in Germany and Spain and another property in the Czech Republic bringing the total hotels in the Czech Republic to 11.

“During the second quarter we officially launched the Best Western Premier hotels in Europe, we hosted the World’s Largest Thank You and we continued on task by adding diverse, quality properties to our brand,” said Suzi Yoder, vice president, International Operations for Best Western.

“By continuing to offer these unique programs and services, in addition to our continuous development efforts, it truly shows interested hoteliers the potential of our brand and proves Best Western is a force to be reckoned with in the global marketplace,” she added.

Best Western International is THE WORLD’S LARGEST HOTEL CHAIN® with more than 4,000 hotels in 80 countries and territories. Best Western is a membership association of independently owned and operated hotels that provides marketing, reservations and operational support to its members.

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