Settle Inn is undergoing a transformation. The small South Dakota-based lodging company with three brands is now known as Boomerang Hotels. CEO Brendan Watters made the announcement at last week’s owners’ conference, the first for the company to include franchisees from both its Settle Inn and GuestHouse International brands.

“We hope to grow this company to someday provide an alternative to Wyndham and Choice Hotels,” said Watters in a post-convention interview. “To do so, we need a structure and foundation that an overarching brand name can give us. It also gives our franchisees the feeling they are part of something bigger than just the flag they fly.”

The source of the name isn’t really tied to Australian-born Watter’s heritage. The company executives initially thought of the Boomerang tag but put it aside and hired a consultant to help develop the new brand. “Those names were too corporate and seemed manufactured and don’t fit our culture,” said Watters. “Boomerang just seemed to fit us, and it has relevancy in the hotel industry. As we told our franchisees, if you treat a guest correctly they’ll boomerang, or be back, to our hotels.”

When Settle Inn bought GuestHouse two years ago, the combined system had 78 properties. Since then, more than 20 left the system (some went kicking and screaming) and 39 new-build or conversion properties signed on, giving the company 95 hotels. The company also has the Shoney’s Inn brand, but its future has been tied up in litigation. Watters expects a disposition of the suit soon.

At last week’s owners’ conference, Watters says the company has three priorities: quality, growth and revenue contribution. Since the acquisition, the company has tightened its quality assurance process, leading to the exit of some properties and the upgrading of others. Watters said the percentage of properties either failing or receiving poor Q&A scores fell from 32 to eight percent.

Revenue contribution from the chain is also improving. It’s up 39 percent for GuestHouse and 15 percent for Settle Inn, said Watters. All of the Settle Inn properties have two-way PMS interfaces with its InnLink res system. Just five percent of GuestHouses had the interface two years ago; today, a quarter of the properties are linked.

Looking ahead, Watters told the franchisees the company hopes to develop a guest loyalty or recognition program. “We don’t know what approach we’ll take but we’ll do it with franchisee input.”