Choice Hotels International, Incorporated has announced that its acquisition of the franchise business, operations, and intellectual property of Radisson Hotel Group Americas — which includes greater than 68,000 hotel rooms in 624 hotel and resort properties under nine brands in the United States, Canada, Latin America, and the Caribbean — for approximately $675 million was completed earlier today, Thursday, August 11, 2022.
Choice Hotels International Completes Acquisition of Radisson Hotel Group Americas
The definitive agreement was officially announced on Monday, June 13, 2022; and the acquisition is expected to expand the presence of Choice Hotels in both the upscale hospitality segment and core upper-midscale hospitality segment — particularly in the west coast region and midwest region of the United States.
In addition to the Radisson Inn & Suites and Radisson Collection brands, the transaction includes 624 hotel and resort properties from the following brands:
- 10 Radisson Blu
- 130 Radisson
- 9 Radisson Individuals
- 1 Park Plaza
- 4 Radisson RED
- 453 Country Inn & Suites by Radisson
- 17 Park Inn by Radisson
The following e-mail message was sent earlier today, Thursday, August 11, 2022 from Robert McDowell, who is the chief commercial officer of Choice Hotels International, Incorporated:
Choice Hotels® Welcomes Radisson Hotels Americas
Dear Valued Guest,
Today, Choice Hotels completed its acquisition of Radisson Hotels Americas — a combination that will give you access to more locations and hotels.
We are excited about these new, attractive travel options. With the addition of more than 600 hotels across nine hotel brands, Choice’s enhanced presence will offer you more ways to meet your travel needs in the U.S., Canada, the Caribbean, and Latin America.
We are just beginning the process of integrating our two great companies. For now, it is business as usual! You can continue to book your stays with us at choicehotels.com or with Radisson Hotels Americas at radissonhotelsamericas.com. There are no changes to the booking process or upcoming reservations.
And don’t forget to earn your points for any of your stays. For now, the Choice Privileges and Radisson Rewards Americas loyalty programs will also remain separate. We will make sure to keep you informed of our progress as we combine the two sets of brands.
Thank you for being our guest.
Meanwhile, Radisson Hotel Group will continue growing and managing its business in markets in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific with aim of doubling its portfolio of hotel and resort properties by 2025.
The portfolio of Choice Hotels International, Incorporated includes almost 600,000 rooms in nearly 7,000 hotel and resort properties in 35 countries and territories worldwide as of Thursday, March 31, 2022.
Final Boarding Call
The splitting of the global Radisson Hotels business organization led to two distinctly different frequent travel loyalty programs, which tended to cause confusion among its members. For example, Jane — who is a reader of The Gate — asked, “Brian, I’d rather use my Radisson points oversea instead of in the US. Is there any way to do it or am I limited to the Americas and the Caribbean? Do I get to choose?”
The acquisition of Radisson Hotel Group Americas by Choice Hotels International, Incorporated seems to generally be sensible — but if the names of the brands and hotel and resort properties are kept the same, confusion may still reign as it did with Ramada some years ago or when Hilton was once divided into two entities as two of a number of examples.
No details have yet been given as to how this acquisition will affect both frequent travel loyalty programs at the time this article was written.
As for me, I stayed at a Radisson hotel property only once at the Park Inn by Radisson Budapest; and the few points I had left in my membership account expired — and my view of Choice Hotels was soured significantly by my recent experience at an Econo Lodge hotel property which was so disgusting that I spent my night in a rental vehicle instead. The compensation which I received for that experience — which included blood stains, mold, and even a rat trap — was pitiful at best, in my opinion…
…so this acquisition will likely not affect me all that much.
All photographs ©2017, ©2020, and ©2022 by Brian Cohen.
