Best Western re-inventing itself
 

USA Today article: "Best Western introduces new name, logo and boutique hotel brand"

Good news! I'll be more encouraged to use my Platinum status received from the status match!

This was definitely needed...they were starting to get overlooked, as evidenced by the other thread in this forum regarding why they are not mentioned as much as other brands.

Here's to hoping the effort turns into a mutual success for both the brand as well as the customers it serves.

I think they should concentrate on getting they last new brand up and running before taking on a new one. Although I hate the asinine spelling and capitalization, at least this brand (Glo) isn't going to be constantly mispronounced like Vib.

Also, maybe it's just me, but I think that a hotel conference should be held in one of the company's hotels. Or, if the conference is too big for that, at least they should hold it in a city with a significant number of hotels. I'm guessing that none of the conference attendees are staying at The Plaza Hotel. That's the only Best Western property on Oahu and it is adjacent to HNL.

Best Western is sort of different from the major international brands in this space, in that the flag owner/operator is a cooperative of sort and not a profit-maximizing entity with the typical franchisor/franchisee relationship. When you're owned by your clients, you're ability to enforce standards or change things faces a sort of different dynamic than in the more traditional profit-seeking franchise setups.

Make that the last two brands. I have still never seen a BW Premier, let alone the even newer brand.

Most markets have BW and BW Plus properties, and nothing else in the BW stable.

I saw a BW Premier today in Sweden in a city that is about the size of Anchorage in Alaska. BW Premier properties seem relatively more commonly encountered in Europe compared to the US.

Hmm! I'm excited to see how this will evolve. But first things first and go for my first Best Western Premier stay :)

Yeah, there aren't a lot in the U.S., but I've run into a few. There are currently 22 of them.

I think the new logo does not serve Best Western well and I personally don't like it.
If they were trying to go for a new, more modern image they missed the mark.

It's an evolutionary thing...not too radical a change from the old brand mark. I actually like it, less cluttered but continues a tradition. Anyone receive their new card yet?

+1

Not crazy about the "BW" initialism. They had it right with their old logo.

It's not terrible but the improvement is so minimal that I think they'd have been better off not bothering.

The new logos seems like they will be a waste of money for hotels that need to get all their merchandise, signs, ect, as well as confusing for people that are used to the old logos and may not know about the new ones.

I absolutely agree. I do not think this new logo looks 'new and modern'.
It actually looks like something European and from Mid evil times to me as in 'old'.
I don't think it's appropriate for Best Western.
I think they are creating confusion in the marketplace, especially with their new brands debuting that aren't closely recognized as being associated with Best Western.

Agreed. Instead of making their franchisees spend money on signage and supplies and such, they should make them spend money to refurbish the hotels themselves. Especially those road side motels.