Spokane-based Hospitality Associates Inc. has re-franchised 30 of the 50 hotels it owns and operatesincluding two hereunder an agreement reached recently with Dallas, Tex.-based La Quinta Inns Inc.


As part of the transition to the new franchise, new signs bearing the La Quinta name will be installed at the hotels and most of them also will be upgraded to provide additional services or facilities, says Terry Wynia, president of Hospitality Associates.


The agreement affects most of the hotels Hospitality Associates has operated under a number of franchises throughout the Western U.S., including a Best Inn & Suites, at 6309 E. Broadway in Spokane, and a Hawthorn Inn & Suites, at 3808 N. Sullivan in the Spokane Valley. The agreement also applies to two hotels in Coeur d Alene, as well as hotels in Ritzville, Kennewick, Walla Walla, Wash.; Sandpoint, Idaho; and Bozeman and Great Falls, Mont. The other affected hotels are in Oregon, California, Colorado, Nevada, and Utah. Most of those properties had been operated under Hawthorn Inn and Best Inn & Suite franchises.


Wynia says some of the other hotels Hospitality Associates operates also likely will be included under the new franchise agreement in the future. Hospitality Associates currently is developing 15 other hotels and expects most of them to be franchised as La Quinta Inns once construction is completed, he says.


Hospitality Associates chose to adopt the new franchise, Wynia says, because it will afford its guests a better selection of services and amenities, as well as convenient access to a large number of La Quinta Inns nationwide.


Prior to the recent franchising agreement, La Quinta Inns owned, operated, or franchised about 350 hotels in more than 35 states, Wynia says. Founded in San Antonio in 1968, La Quinta Inns is the lodging division of The La Quinta Cos., a real estate investment trust registered on the New York Stock Exchange, he says.


Hospitality Associates has added five hotels to its portfolio over the last year, Wynia says. The company indicated one year ago that it expected to have about 75 hotels in operation by early 2002, but declining economic conditions have prompted some reductions in Hospitality Associates construction activities, he says. The company also had said a year ago that it planned to form a division to develop and manage assisted-living facilities, but the company has yet to take that step.