Best Western's Parent BWH Renamed WorldHotels
BWH Hotels is rebranding to WorldHotels to broaden its appeal, merging its loyalty programs into three tiers starting January 5.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- BWH Hotels renames itself WorldHotels after acquiring the brand in 2019
- All 18 individual hotel brands keep their existing names unchanged
- Best Western Rewards and WorldHotels Rewards merge on January 5
The parent company of the Best Western hotel family has decided to rebrand itself as WorldHotels, adopting the name of one of the smaller properties it acquired back in 2019. The announcement was made to hotel owners during the company's annual convention held in Phoenix, with the strategic goal of appealing to a broader demographic of travelers. Over the past decade, the group has expanded significantly from operating just a single brand in 2010 to managing 18 distinct brands spanning luxury, boutique, upscale, extended-stay, and economy segments.
Despite the corporate name change, all 18 individual hotel brands will maintain their current names, ensuring that a Best Western property stays a Best Western. The primary shifts impact the corporate identity and the group's loyalty offerings. The two existing loyalty programs, Best Western Rewards and WorldHotels Rewards, will combine under the WorldHotels banner starting January 5, reducing the tier structure from five levels down to three.
Transitioning a parent company's name to match an upscale or luxury asset within its portfolio is a proven hospitality branding strategy, mirroring moves like IHG's 2003 renaming. This approach helps modernise corporate perception beyond the confines of a legacy brand that consumers might only associate with a single tier. However, the primary hurdle remains aligning cooperative members who are deeply attached to the historical brand identity.
CEO Larry Cuculic noted in an interview that the group has evolved at a pace faster than public awareness, as travelers typically only recognise a fraction of the portfolio. The company currently counts 3,920 operating hotels—remaining relatively flat compared to the over 3,900 reported in 2019—with an additional 400 properties in the pipeline. Chief Marketing Officer Joelle Park assured members that the loyalty program merger involves no devaluation of points, with status matching and earned points carrying over smoothly.
Operating as a one-hotel, one-vote cooperative where roughly three-quarters of properties carry the Best Western name, the parent company noted that members did not vote on this rebranding decision. Leadership stated that the corporate entity will absorb all transition costs from its own balance sheet without imposing additional fees on property owners. This dynamic echoes previous governance friction, notably when North American owners voted down a 2019 board proposal to convert the cooperative into a for-profit corporation.
Source: Skift
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