Much of the excitement for owners and developers around Country Inn & Suites is tied to renovating properties and transitioning to the Generation 4 design. Since the Gen 4 prototype was launched a few years ago, 140 Country Inn & Suites hotels have completed renovations to comply with the new standards, according to Aly El-Bassuni, Radisson’s senior vice president of franchise operations, Americas.
To meet its plan to double the number of Country Inn & Suites hotels in Radisson Hotel Group’s inventory, the company is revving up the Gen 4 redesign program. It will offer loans to owners who cannot find financing for the upgrades through conventional lenders. The company will also end licensing contracts with owners who do not take part in the Gen 4 property improvement plan.
“When I came on board, and we set up the five-year strategic plan, we actually thought there were a whole bunch of Gen 1s, well over 50, that were going to have to exit the system, that just did not financially pencil in. They’re smaller properties, under 60 rooms, that would not be able to move to Gen 4,” said Ken Greene, president, Americas, for Radisson Hotel Group
“But some of those owners with Gen 1 properties said, ‘We think we can do it … in a cost-effective way.’ My internal team at the time said, ‘No way. Can’t do it.’ ”
“We went out there, sat with them and looked at what they were doing, and we said, ‘Darn right, it can work.’ We didn’t have to ask those properties to leave. Many of them have been converted over to Gen 4 very successfully.”
ValueXpress has been active in refinancing Country Inn & Suites hotels to provide “cash-out” proceeds to fund Gen 4 conversions. To obtain a “cash-out” loan to pay for your Gen 4 conversion, contact Mike Sneden (mikes@valuexpress.com), Dennis Suh (dsuh@valuexpress.com) or Gary Unkel (gunkel@valuexpress.com).