 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Lodging |
| Founded | 1974; 51 years ago (1974) |
| Founder | Cardinal Industries, Inc. |
| Headquarters | Denver, Colorado, U.S. |
Number of locations | 200+ |
Area served | United States, Canada |
| Parent | Red Lion Hotels Corporation |
| Website | www |
Knights Inn (officiallyKnights Franchise Systems, Inc.) is an American full-limited service hotel chain owned byRed Lion Hotels Corporation and based inDenver, Colorado. Knights Inn used to be built with all-exterior corridors and medieval-inspired architecture, but the chain now has updated options for all Knights Inn properties.
Knights Inn started inColumbus, Ohio when its first location opened in 1974. The Columbus-basedCardinal Industries, Inc., former manufacturer of prefabricated buildings such as apartments and motels, developed the chain.[1] The chain utilized extensive landscaping andTudor architecture, and all properties featured only one story.[2] The buildings were alsoprefabricated, and were shipped on trucks to their sites.
Knights Inn introduced Arborgate Inn, a "no-frills" brand featuring fewer amenities and more modern architecture,[3] along with a higher-end variant called Knights Stop.[2] Knights Inn filed forChapter 11 bankruptcy in 1989, one year after the introduction of Arborgate Inn.[2]
Hospitality Management Systems (HMS) acquired the Knights Inn franchise and management contract rights from Cardinal Industries in 1991. At this point, many properties had begun re-branding to other companies, most notablyMotel 6,Travelodge, andDays Inn; conversely, HMS began acquiring buildings from other chains and re-branding them to Knights Inn, thus abandoning the chain's architecture standards. HMS successfully sued the owners of properties re-branded from Knights Inn and forced them to alter the appearances of their buildings.[2]
Cendant purchased Knights Inn in 1995. At this same time, the sister brands were discontinued. In 2004, Cendant merged the Villager Inn brand, which it had previously acquired, into the Knights Inn division.[4]
Cendant spun off its hotel properties asWyndham Worldwide in 2006. In November 2007, there were 225 properties open in theUnited States andCanada.
On April 4, 2018, Wyndham Worldwide announced it was selling Knights Inn toRed Lion Hotels Corporation,[5] a transaction which closed on May 14, 2018.[6] As part of the ownership transition, the brand was removed from the Wyndham Rewards loyalty program as of May 2, 2018[7] and is now part of Red Lion's Hello Rewards loyalty program.
