Quick, name the hotel company that created the Baymont Inn & Suites brand. Yes, the midscale limited-service brand currently resides with Wyndham Hotel Group, but no, that’s not where it began. Baymont was briefly La Quinta’s other brand, but it actually started in 1974 as the Budgetel Inn brand from Milwaukee-based Marcus Corp.—the same Marcus better known for its classic luxury Pfister hotel and its massive movie theater business.

“I guess people have short memories,” says Marcus Chairman and former CEO Steve Marcus about the brand he launched 37 years ago. It was created to compete above newer economy brands like Motel 6 and Super 8, but below the full-service giant, Holiday Inn.

Under Marcus, the brand steadily grew, evolved and even changed names, but the fun really started in 2004. In a span of two years, the Baymont system was sold to La Quinta, which was then bought by Blackstone, and then Baymont was sold to Cendant, as it was undergoing its own transformation into Wyndham Worldwide.

“What’s next? Who’s going to do what?” says Dan Trotochaud of the feelings of franchisees in April 2006 when Wyndham became the latest new owners of the brand. As an owner and general manager, Trotochaud was there to see all the changes, building his Budgetel in 1997, the year before the whirlwind began. “There was a great deal of fear during that transition period, that we’d be lost in the shuffle … But I’m pleased with where the brand appears to be going. I’d like to see us double again and be at 500 properties in the next few years and I think that’s possible.”

Five years ago the Baymont system had dwindled to 130 properties and doubling in size seemed altogether unrealistic. Today, with 261 properties and five years of stability from hotel and franchising heavyweight Wyndham Worldwide, Baymont is poised for even more growth. Last year it gained the most among Wyndham Hotel Group’s 15 brands and the expectations haven’t stopped there.

“Wyndham Hotel Group has a number of iconic brands in its portfolio including Days Inn, Super 8, Howard Johnson and we also have some that aren’t quite there yet,” says Wyndham Hotel Group President and CEO Eric Danziger. “My goal is to change that. Baymont, I believe, is well on its way.”

Budget Beginnings
After a quarter century of steady growth, Marcus Corp. embarked on a massive rebranding in 1998 to relaunch Budgetel as Baymont Inn & Suites after the economy brand outgrew both its name and segment. With ironing boards and irons in every room and a free breakfast bag hung on every door each morning, Budgetel was really one of the first limited-services brands. But by the turn of the century, Baymont wasn’t alone.

“The public was very responsive,” Marcus says, “but there were a lot of copycats. The product became somewhat commoditized and it became a marketing game all about who had the most properties and loudest voice.”

With competitors like Hampton, Fairfield, Holiday Inn Express and more, Marcus chose to sell the quiet brand to give it a greater chance to grow. La Quinta bought 97 properties and a franchise system with 88 properties in 2004 for $412 million in cash. Blackstone then bought La Quinta and sold the Baymont franchise rights and system with 130 properties to Cendant for $60 million cash.

Patrick Breen, Wyndham’s senior vice president of Baymont, recalls that first meeting with a “curious” group of Baymont owners in April 2006. The franchisees were dealing with yet another new owner and had just seen their brand drop from almost 200 properties to 130. “Hostility” may have been a better word, says Trotochaud, who was also there. “Everyone was frustrated after Blackstone kept the real nice properties and we ended up a much smaller brand,” he says. “Then we went to Wyndham and we were concerned we’d be just another budget brand.”

The day before meeting with his new franchisees, Breen was telling franchisees of Wyndham’s other midscale brand, AmeriHost, they would be merging into Baymont. Budgetel/Baymont had always been a new construction brand, but Cendant bought it with the intention to grow it through conversions. Baymont was positioned just above Super 8 and Days Inn, and below Wingate, Wyndham’s midscale new-construction offering.

“That’s why we bought it five years ago and it’s fulfilling its destiny every day,” says Breen. “We want to be everywhere, but to get there we have to keep adding more Baymonts. People who never considered Baymont are now thinking about it.”

Baymont gained seven hotels in 2006, 56 in 2007 and 34 in 2008—52 of those coming from converted AmeriHosts as the brand was phased out. Despite the recession, Baymont added 13 properties in 2009 and 21 last year. The 8.75% increase in rooms last year was the largest in net growth among Wyndham’s 15 brands.

Family to Family of Brands
“THIS IS NOT YOUR TYPICAL BAYMONT,” read the email from an ambitious franchise salesman. The attached pictures of a tiki bar and palm trees surrounding a massive pool were what really caught Breen’s attention three years ago. The images were of a renovated 295-room Holiday Inn just a half-mile from Walt Disney World Resort. Owner Scott Shaw was looking for a new brand, and was on the verge of choosing Days Hotel before being sold on the future of a brand he hardly knew.

“The availability of flags was one thing,” Shaw says “but I didn’t go to Baymont by default. I didn’t even know it was part of the Wyndham family at the time. I did some investigating and I couldn’t find any baggage with the brand. I’ve heard all the sales pitches and I didn’t get that from Baymont.”

With the typical Baymont ranging in size from 60 to 80 rooms, Shaw’s property quickly became the brand’s largest and highest profile. The free morning breakfast at most Baymonts seats 15 to 20 and rarely does a guest have to wait in line for the waffles, French toast, coffee or juice, but in Celebration, FL, Shaw’s general manager Fred Keen has to handle up to 800 guests some mornings.

Shaw’s property will celebrate its second anniversary with Baymont in June, and he wouldn’t change a thing.

“If I had the opportunity to put any flag on my hotel, after speaking with Patrick Breen, Keri Putera, Eric Danziger, Keith Pierce and Gus Stamoutsos, there isn’t any doubt in my mind I would still ink a deal with Baymont,” says Shaw, who credits personal meetings with and attention from the entire Wyndham executive team, including Wyndham Worldwide CEO Stephen Holmes, as one of the primary reasons he’s hoping to build or buy more Baymonts down the road. “I’m not just a property number to them … Other brands certainly have a greater identity, but I don’t believe there is a brand with greater potential.”

The bulk of the Baymont system still resides in the Midwest where it started, but it also has grown in Texas and the central U.S. through conversions and new construction. Beyond that “there is immense room for growth,” says Breen. “There was a time all Baymonts looked alike, but that’s not the case anymore. This hotel [in Celebration] has unique needs—that’s a fancy way of saying they have issues no other Baymont has—and if you follow rigid lines it wouldn’t be good for us or Scott. And it’s got to be good for guests too, and we’ll work to find those solutions.”

Stamoutsos, Wyndham Hotel Group’s executive vice president of franchise development, says there is renewed interest in new construction projects, but 70% to 80% of Baymont’s growth will likely come through conversions.

Hometown Hospitality
Although the physical look of the brand may change from location to location, what Breen hopes remains the same at each is what’s inside. Dubbed “hometown hospitality,” Breen and Baymont pride themselves on friendly service based on Midwestern values.

“When we bought the brand, the name hometown hospitality didn’t exist, but the culture did,” says Breen of Baymont’s roots with Marcus. “So many Baymonts are in smaller towns and the person across the counter could be your neighbor or friend and you treat them like that. It’s always been the story of the brand, we just put a name to it and harnessed it.”

Keri Putera, a vice president of marketing for Wyndham Hotel Group, says a key part of hometown hospitality is the cursive fonts used on collateral in guestrooms to convey the feel of handwritten notes greeting guests. “To me, it’s like walking into my home and seeing a post-it note written from a family member on the refrigerator,” Shaw adds. “It’s familial, not corporate or sterile.”

As the brand begins to reach critical mass and grows beyond, the key for Baymont will be maintaining the original values both guests and franchisees have enjoyed.

“We really believe Baymont has the potential to be the next great midscale brand in size, strength and quality,” says Keith Pierce, Wyndham Hotel Group’s evp of brand operations.

Trotochaud, the owner and GM of the Baymont in Mackinaw City, MI, fondly recalls the early days with Marcus, but he’s more excited about the growth opportunities with Wyndham.

“I swear they had someone who sent candy and cards for every holiday,” Trotochaud says of Marcus. “You don’t get those things from a big company … Yes, we had all those warm, fuzzy feelings, but we weren’t growing and the chocolates and fudge weren’t making business any better.”

Budgetel to Baymont

1974 – The first Budgetel Inn from Marcus Corp. opens in Oshkosh, WI.
1987 – First franchised Budgetel Inn opens as chain grows nationally.
1998 – Marcus rebrands Budgetel as Baymont Inn & Suites. The massive relaunch included 156 properties in 30 states, 106 company-owned properties and 50 franchised locations.
2004 – La Quinta Corp. buys 89 Marcus-owned or operated Baymonts, seven Woodfield Suites and one Budgetel Inn along with Baymont franchise rights and system of 88 hotels for $412 million.
2005 – The Blackstone Group buys La Quinta in public-to-private acquisition.
2006 – Blackstone sells franchise rights and system of 130 Baymonts to Cendant for approximately $60 million cash, converting or selling individually all the owned assets of the brand. Cendant later splits into four companies, one being hospitality focused Wyndham Worldwide with its Wyndham Hotel Group division. Wyndham announces it is phasing out its AmeriHost brand and merging it into Baymont.
2010 – Wyndham Hotel Group nets 21 new Baymont hotels, bringing the portfolio to 261 properties. The 1,474 added rooms, an 8.75% increase, is the largest among Wyndham’s 15 brands.