Last month's purchase of US Franchise Systems by Wyndham Worldwide raises some interesting questions about the future of several brands. Wyndham announced the deal at the NYU International Hospitality Investment Conference in New York in early June. It purchased USFS from Global Hyatt, which said in late February that the subsidiary no longer fit its long-range plans (although no one seems to know what they are). The price wasn't disclosed, but some industry insiders suggest the transaction cost Wyndham a little more than $100 million, or about 20 times USFS' EBITDA.

The two brands Wyndham got in the deal-Microtel and Hawthorn Suites-should fit nicely into its Wyndham Hotel Group portfolio of 6,500-plus franchised hotels. In many ways, the 91-hotel Hawthorn brand was the big prize as it allows Wyndham to finally enter the all-suites, extended-stay market.

Microtel Inns & Suites, a chain of 292 all-new-construction economy hotels, raises some portfolio management questions for Wyndham. The company already has four brands (as categorized by Smith Travel Research) in the economy segment: Days Inn, Super 8, Travelodge and Knights Inn. How Wyndham will be able to shoehorn Microtel into that mix without raising the ire of franchisees will be interesting to watch. One scenario is that Wyndham will either sell or close down one or two of its existing economy brands. Which ones? And how will they manage the concerns of franchisees?