With a courtroom victory under its belt, Boomerang Hotels says it will relaunch Shoney’s Inn with an emphasis on the Southeast, the brand’s birthplace and original stronghold. Boomerang CEO Brendan Watters hopes to eventually grow the brand to 80 to 100 properties, with 10 open within a year.

“We’re going to focus on those states where Shoney’s has great name recognition and a good reputation, starting in Ohio and Kentucky and through to Florida, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia and Tennessee,” says Watters. “Our goal is to make it a strong regional economy brand. We don’t have national aspirations at this time.”

Boomerang, which also operates the upper midscale GuestHouse and Settle Inn brands, had been in a protracted legal battle with the owners of the Shoney’s Restaurants system over the use of the name for hotels. The forerunner of Boomerang bought a nearly dormant Shoney’s Inn portfolio in 2006 and shortly thereafter decided to revive the brand, prompting the lawsuit. A Tennessee appeals court recently ruled in the company’s favor, opening the door for the relaunch.

Watters sees Shoney’s as a natural complement to GuestHouse and Settle Inn, both in segment and geography. With 60-plus properties in 23 states, GuestHouse is a national brand but with strong representation west of the Mississippi: 10 properties are in Washington and five in California. By contrast, the 16-unit Settle Inn chain is concentrated in the upper Midwest.

“To get where we want to be, Shoney’s will primarily be a conversion brand,” says Watters. “Some of our existing franchisees who also have properties in other brand systems have already shown interest. And there may even be a few GuestHouses that because of location may be better suited to the Shoney’s brand.”

Watters says the company has been focusing its corporate efforts on online marketing. It recently revamped the GuestHouse website, with a new Settle Inn site not far behind. Top priority for Shoney’s is to roll out a new site for the brand.

Watters expects to add 12 to 15 GuestHouses to the system during 2011. Several Holiday Inn Express conversions joined the brand recently, and Watters has two more applications in hand. Since Settle Inn was launched as a new-construction brand, growth will be slow this year, says Watters, with two or three new properties opening.