La Quinta executives Wayne Goldberg and Rajiv Trivedi discuss the history and culture of La Quinta hotels. They explain how La Quinta has grown from 270 properties in 2000 to over 800 today through franchising. The focus on guests and partnerships with franchisees has helped drive strong growth and satisfaction scores. New programs like "Here For You" and installing HD TVs in all rooms reflect La Quinta's commitment to the guest experience.

1. Cover Story
On The Bright Side
La Quinta executives open up about the history of the limited service brand,
how the company defines its culture and why the guest always comes first
All photos by David McGhee unless otherwise noted
La Quinta President & CEO
Wayne Goldberg and Chief
Development Officer Rajiv Trivedi
T
he site of this year’s La Quinta By Jonathan Springston, have to grow through franchising,”
Inns & Suites annual conference Trivedi said during an interview in
AAHOA Lodging Business
is New Orleans and it is there, January from the La Quinta head-
nearly 12 years ago, where two of the quarters in Irving, Texas. “We made
company’s top executives met for the President of Operations and Rajiv a commitment to choose the right
first time, marking an important turn- Trivedi as Vice President of Franchise partners, to choose the right location,
ing point for the brand. Operations. to choose the right property, and to
Prior to 2000, La Quinta had Goldberg, who spent 21 years create consistency for the brand and
carved out a niche in the Sun Belt helping to build a franchising model the product.”
catering to cost-conscious business for Red Roof with Cash, had been on “We launched the franchise
travelers. When Francis “Butch” Cash the job at La Quinta for two weeks program at Red Roof and we made a
became CEO in April 2000, he wanted in 2000 and was in New Orleans lot of mistakes,” Goldberg said. “We
to take La Quinta national using a when he met Trivedi, who honed his made a conscious decision to do the
franchising model to greatly expand franchising chops with Cendant and same thing here but better. We were
the company’s portfolio. had been on the job at La Quinta for going to learn from our mistakes and
To bring the vision to reality, one week. not repeat them. When Raj came in,
Cash made two key hires, bringing “[Cash] realized that for a brand he was able to help us not make those
in Wayne Goldberg as Group Vice to grow and remain competitive, you same mistakes, whether it be qual-
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2. Cover Story
ity, dealing with partners we never customer is their franchisee. To me, to our competitors, we did very well
should never have been dealing with that’s backward. To me, the number and we’re very pleased.”
– we very consciously said ‘we are one customer is the guest and any- “We saw unit growth, new con-
going to do this better’ and I think we body that loses sight of that I think tracts signed, pipeline growth for
have.” focuses on the wrong things.” sure,” he added. “Guest satisfaction
When Goldberg and Trivedi “Having such an open relation- remains strong and consistent. We
arrived at La Quinta, the company ship with our partners makes us bet- improved in almost every measure
owned only 270 properties, faced ter,” Trivedi added. “They become a in 2011, even in a relatively weak
considerable debt and was in general better believer in the program you are economy.”
disarray. As Goldberg rose to presi- launching. It creates a much better Goldberg is concerned that no one
dent and CEO in 2005 and Trivedi to environment for a guest.” is responding swiftly enough to the
Executive Vice President of Franchis- robust demand growth the industry
ing and Chief Development Officer, Strong Growth in 2011 has experienced over the last two
so too, did La Quinta grow. Travelers are rewarding La Quinta for years.
Along with other talented execu- their careful focus on the guest expe- “When you have demand grow-
tives and staff, they helped steer La rience. Despite a sluggish economy, ing, it’s reasonable to expect that
Quinta through the acquisition and Goldberg said La Quinta projected you get 1 percent or 2 percent rate
subsequent sale of Baymont proper- to complete 2011 with strong growth growth. In the first part of 2011, we
ties as well as the Blackstone Group across the major indicators. didn’t see that,” he said. “We planned
acquisition in 2006 while carefully “We saw significant RevPAR to see it and we had to ratchet back
expanding the portfolio with a com- growth. We’re going to have because we didn’t see it. We felt
bination of corporate-owned and relatively strong EBITDA growth,” pricing should have moved sooner.
franchised properties with a philoso- he said. “In the grand scheme of 2012 is set up well for modest rate
phy rooted in AAHOA’s 12 Points of things, we saw some development growth.”
Fair Franchising. activity slow down but in relation Goldberg feels momentum built
“AAHOA has been a great partner
and instrumental in our success. AA-
HOA is our key group of franchisees
and we have learned a lot from
them,” Trivedi said. “Our franchising
model was based heavily on the 12
Points of Fair Franchising. It keeps
us honest and gives us the reality
check every year to make sure we are
paying attention to the needs of the
industry.”
Today, La Quinta is one of the
largest operators of limited-service
hotels in the United States. The com-
pany operates and provides franchise
services to more than 800 hotels in 46
states, Canada and Mexico under the
La Quinta Inns and La Quinta Inns
& Suites brands, with hotels in the
pipeline for Latin America.
While corporate-owned prop-
erties are operated by La Quinta’s
operations team, led by COO Angelo
Lombardi, and franchised properties
are usually operated by an independ-
ent management company or other
qualified manager, Goldberg views
all properties as part of the same La
Quinta family working toward the
same goals.
“We don’t view our franchisees as
our customers. They are our partners Goldberg on Trivedi: “When Raj came in, he was able to
help us not make those same mistakes, whether it be
[and] it’s a long term marriage,” he
quality, dealing with partners we never should never
said. “There’s one guest and we share have been dealing with – we very consciously said ‘we
that guest. Most of our competitors, are going to do this better’ and I think we have.”
they will tell you their number one
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3. Cover Story
over the course of 2010 and 2011
“The results of bode well for the industry in
Here For You are 2012.
highly successful,”
“We’re going to open
Trivedi said. “It’s
not a program but a more hotels this year. I know
lifestyle. Here For we’re going to sign additional
You is going to be contracts this year,” he said.
one of our biggest “We’re investing in company-
programs.” owned assets to renovate more
hotels. More marketing dollars,
more information systems
dollars. That sets us
up to perform better,
even with a sluggish
economy.”
Trivedi noted
franchised proper-
ties outperformed
their competitive
set over the last two
years, enjoying a 3
percent share growth
in 2011 and a healthy
RevPAR increase.
“We had one of the
least amount of properties
going back to the bank. We
have franchisees that were in
some financial trouble but we
did a good job of working out a
payment plan. We are one of the
few brands that have seen posi-
tive growth in the units over
the last two years,” he said.
“Franchisees are quite pleased
with the support and flexibil-
ity. Our strategy for the brand
and our partners is our biggest
strength.”
Clue Scanning Here For
You
During the 2011 conference, La
Quinta introduced a number of new
initiatives, including the branded
customer concept called “Here For
You.”
“We’re not building a culture.
We’re defining one that already
existed,” Goldberg said. “When we
started this, we didn’t have senior
level meetings to decide what our
culture was going to be. We went
out and asked everyone for feed-
back on what we view our values
to be. All we’ve done is define the
values people say existed.”
When Goldberg hands out
his business card, he also hands
out a two-sided plastic card that
contains how guests want to feel
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4. Cover Story
(Assured, Settled In and Optimistic)
on one side and the La Quinta compa-
ny values (People, Passion, Integrity,
Excellence, and Unique) on the other.
“It’s a work in progress,” Gold-
berg said of Here For You. “We’re
never satisfied. No matter how good
we do something today, we want to
find a way to do it better tomorrow.”
Trivedi said La Quinta is in the
process of collecting surveys from
every La Quinta employee, whether
they work in housekeeping or they
manage the hotel, to gauge how Here
For You is progressing.
“The results of Here For You are
highly successful,” he said. “It’s not
a program but a lifestyle. Here For
You is going to be one of our biggest
programs.”
A key component of Here For
You is Clue Scanning, which helps La
Quinta employees see their proper-
ties from the guests’ perspective.
During a visit to the La Quinta Inn
& Suites Dallas Love Field, Goldberg
and Trivedi put Clue Scanning into
action, pointing out to General Man-
ager Jesse Verghese small corrections,
like ensuring cables are completely
tucked behind a wall-mounted
HDTV.
“What Clue Scanning has done is “People need to see
it has created a greater awareness,” the lighter side of you
Trivedi said. “You are watching what because that makes
you do and how you do it because them comfortable
you are observing others behavior.” around you,” Trivedi
said. “People can see
After last year’s conference, La
the accessibility and
Quinta held 158 Here For You train- the human side of you.”
ing sessions across the country and
world. Clue Scanning went over quite very rewarding.” really becomes the culture of who we
well. Clue Scanning has inspired new are as a brand,” Evancho said.
This “greater awareness” about ideas from everyone. Lombardi intro-
the guest experience has paid divi- duced single-cup coffee makers in all The HDTV Project
dends for La Quinta, resulting in so corporate-owned properties and new The introduction of high-definition
much positive feedback from guests pillows for all La Quinta properties TVs at La Quinta properties is a point
that the company had to assign some- through his personal observations. of pride for many executives as it
one from the guest services division “At the end of 2011, I challenged served as the biggest product focus
to handle it all. our executive committee to each visit of 2011. The brand has a partnership
“Our guest satisfaction scores did two corporate hotels and two fran- with Samsung on plug and play TVs
go up. The real way to measure that is chise hotels,” Goldberg said. “I told that come equipped with the ability
through compliments that are unsolic- them to come back and report against to broadcast HD signals.
ited,” Oliver Evancho, Vice President, our values as you see it from our em- During the visit to the Dallas Love
Franchising & Development Admin- ployees [and] benchmark where we Field property, Goldberg grins as he
istration, said. “ I attended 28 training are as an organization. We don’t want plays with a new set, showing off
sessions and every one was fun for me. them to be words. We want them to different backgrounds guests can set
To tell [employees] to become a guest, be real.” while they work or rest.
what do you see, hear, feel, smell – it “What we’re going to show at this “Look at the picture! This is what
was enlightening for me but to see the year’s conference is as a brand, we I really want you to see!” Goldberg
light bulb go off for your maintenance have the responsibility to ensure Clue points out the Samsung sets have
staff, your housekeeping staff – it was Scanning isn’t a buzzword, that it ports on the side of the TV, making it
32 AAHOA Lodging Business FEBRUARY 2012

5. Cover Story
easy for guests to use. sive liquidated damages. “The first thought was to im-
“It’s not about giving the guest all “About two years ago, cable plement this by the end of 2012,”
the technology,” Goldberg said. “It’s companies started locking people Trivedi said. “We had a prolonged
about giving the guest the ability to into certain agreements. It sounded debate where [the Brand Council]
use the technology they are traveling great at the time but the companies said ‘we can’t do that’. We needed to
with.” understood their technology was not understand the facts about contracts,
The $50 million project called moving as fast as satellite or HD,” liquidated damages and time of
for rooms at every corporate-owned Evancho said. “They were trying to contracts.”
property to have these Samsung TVs wrap people into long-term contracts. “We want people to be able to do
by mid-2011 with a minimum of 30 We didn’t understand that until we it and not do it like we do it if there is
available HD channels. went out there to hear it.” a better way,” Goldberg said. “Most
What we’re going Goldberg on guest
satisfaction: “To me, the
to show at this number one customer is the
guest and anybody that loses
year’s conference is
sight of that I think focuses
on the wrong things.”
as a brand, we have
the responsibility
to ensure Clue
Scanning isn’t a
buzzword, that
it really becomes
the culture of
who we are as a
brand
“We want to make sure
that minimum HD channel
consistency stays through-
out the brand and that plug
and play is available,”
Trivedi said. “If they have
a TV that doesn’t supply a
model, then we’re going
to have franchisees in-
stall a panel that allows
them to do plug and play
with their existing TVs.”
After the TV announce-
ment at last year’s confer-
ence, the La Quinta Brand Council
raised a number of concerns about
how the project would proceed at
franchised properties. Among other
issues, the Brand Council pointed out
how many franchisees are tied into
long-term contracts that to get
out of would require expen-
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6. Cover Story
“It’s not about giving the guest all Vice President, Development, said.
the technology,” Goldberg said of the The Brand Council also offers
HDTV Project. “It’s about giving the suggestions for new initiatives.
guest the ability to use the technology “A lot of initiatives we’re rolling
they are traveling with.” out were brought to our attention by
the Brand Council, like Here For You
and the breakfast program,” Wilner
said.
Testing Projects in
Corporate-Owned Properties
New initiatives like the HDTV project
often start in La Quinta’s corporate-
owned properties for testing and
tweaking before moving on to fran-
chised properties.
“Angelo and the entire operations
team will deploy in a batch of prop-
erties and see if there is a ROI and
determine what the EBITDA is,” Ev-
ancho said. “When we decide we’re
going to do it, we’ll do it to every one
of our properties before we make it a
brand standard.”
“The purpose of launching at a
corporate hotel is very simple: any
new program you launch, you always
have certain adjustments you have to
make, iron out certain kinks,” Trivedi
said. “We want to make sure when
we launch a program to our franchise
community, it is not only tested but it
is vetted, it is proven.”
“Some other companies out there
that are franchised only roll out
something that isn’t tested,” Craig
Brantl, Director of Franchise Services,
said. “Our owners appreciate testing
it on our end.”
A Family Affair
Thorough product testing and open
of our franchise partners already “We are not expecting them to dialogue between management and
have flat screen TVs. They already forgo the contract they are currently franchisees create an environment
have some HD content delivered. So under,” Trivedi added. “We would where franchisees feel like an impor-
we’re working to see what that will rather they work with the companies tant part of something special.
look like across the whole system.” they already have contracts with and During Goldberg and Trivedi’s
After conversations with the make the adjustments to meet the visit to the Dallas Love Field prop-
Brand Council, La Quinta decided to new standards.” erty, Verghese and other employees
provide greater flexibility on imple- The debate over the HDTV project warmly greeted the executives and
menting the project. serves as the perfect example of the appeared excited to show off the new
“What we don’t want to do is put function the Brand Council serves hotel.
a date by which they have to have it and the friendly working relationship Verghese beams with pride as
completed and them have a current it has with La Quinta executives. Goldberg and Trivedi point out the
contract that they then have to pay “By no means do we dictate deci- different features of the property they
liquidated damages,” Goldberg said. sions to them and then they just sit most enjoy. Goldberg notes the floors
“We’re working to make sure we’re there and roll over. If we are moving in the main entrance and bathroom ap-
not forcing them to do something in a direction, we bring it to their pear to be wood but are actually made
that costs them excessive amounts of attention and get their thoughts and of vinyl. Trivedi points out the unique
money to get out of agreements that suggestions. If they don’t like it, integrated bed scarfs and the decora-
are already in place.” they’ll tell us,” David Wilner, Senior tive trim work in the bathrooms.
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7. Cover Story
Goldberg discusses La Quinta comfortable around you. People can
room features he enjoys see the accessibility and the human
side of you,” Trivedi said. “Ulti-
mately in our business, it boils down
to relationships and someone who
believes in and trusts you.”
La Quinta executives feel creating
this comfort level makes property
visits and the annual conference feel
more like family reunions.
“It’s amazing how many of our
franchise partners that enter our
(Photo by Jonathan Springston)
brand are amazed by the accessibility
of all our executives,” Wilner said.
“We have franchisees who come
in here unannounced. The door’s
always open and they can discuss
problems or just talk.”
Through mentorship programs
and networking, La Quinta tries to
introduce franchisees to one another
Throughout the tour, both men partners see it. The staff sees it when so they might help each other solve
ask Verghese questions while sharing we arrive. They see we’re not under common problems and to further
stories and laughter. somebody’s thumb.” build a sense of community.
“It’s very easy to become pas- Evancho noted Trivedi always “Our visits are not a threat to
sionate about what you do when holds meetings with other execu- [franchisees]. Our visits are to tell
you see you are a partner with the tives and staff to determine how to you the truth,” Trivedi said. “It is
franchisees. We’re not telling them to keep site visits light while also being not they who should be worried. It
do something. We’re guiding them helpful. is us that should be worried to make
and they’re there for us as well,” “People need to see the lighter sure that they are successful in every
Evancho said. “We have fun and our side of you because that makes them aspect at all times.”
Goldberg and Trivedi point out a small
correction at the La Quinta Inn &
Suites Dallas Love Field
(Photo by Jonathan Springston)
FEBRUARY 2012 AAHOA Lodging Business 35