Accor North America added 50 Motel 6 locations and seven Studio 6 properties in 2008, including six corporate acquisitions.

The membership organization added the Best Western Cecil Field Inn and Suites in Jacksonville, FL; the Best Western La Copa Inn and Suites in South Padre Island, TX; and the Best Western Jasper Inn in Alberta, Canada.

Carlson Hotels Worldwide celebrated its 1,000th location with the opening of the Radisson St. Martin Resort, Marina & Spa in the Caribbean. To commemorate the milestone, the company is planting 1,000 trees worldwide and making a financial donation to the United Nations Environment Programme and The Carbon Neutral Company. Country Inn and Suites hotels opened in Meridian, MS and Archdale, NC.

The Summit Group opened Cambria Suites hotels in Baton Rouge, LA and San Antonio. Growth Properties Hospitality Management will manage the historical McLure House Hotel & Conference Center in Wheeling, WV and convert it to a Clarion Hotel.

The Fairmont Battery Wharf opened last month on Boston's waterfront with 150 rooms.

The Casa Marina Resort & Beach Club and The Reach Resort, both in Florida's Key West, joined the Waldorf=Astoria Collection. The Hilton Garden Inn Ames (IA) and the Hilton Garden Palm Beach Gardens (FL) recently opened. The first Embassy Suites with the Design Option III prototype and Flying Spoons restaurant opened in Jackson, MS. The newly converted Doubletree Hotel Cleveland (OH) Downtown/Lakeside debuted after a $15-million renovation.

The $31-million, 136-room Holiday Inn Long Island-Manhattan View opened in New York, as did the recently converted 188-room Crowne Plaza Long Island-MacArthur Airport.

The fast-growing independent hotel group added a record 100 new hotels/activations in a 30-day period at the end of last year.

Courtyard by Marriott properties opened in Lima, OH; Franklin, TN; and Waldorf, MD. Fairfield Inn & Suites hotels opened in Orange Beach, AL; Palm Coast, FL; and Plant City, FL, while Residence Inns opened in Molina, IL; Albuquerque, NM and Phoenix.

The economy extended-stay hotel chain opened 15 newly built properties the past two months and had approximately 140 locations open in 25 states at the end of 2008. Since the brand's debut in 2003, 47 franchise groups have committed to build over 600 hotels in the next 10 years.

Wyndham Hotels and Resorts opened its first two hotels in New York City with the 224-room Wyndham Garden Hotel Midtown Convention Center and the 124-room Wyndham Garden Hotel Manhattan Chelsea West.