This little nugget from last month has apparently gone unnoticed by the points & miles blogosphere:
Alliance Data Systems Corporation, a leading global provider of data-driven marketing and loyalty solutions, today announced its Columbus, Ohio-based Retail Services business, a premier provider of branded private label, co-brand, and commercial credit programs, has expanded its footprint into the hospitality industry, with the signature of a new long-term agreement to provide co-brand credit card services for Red Roof Inn.
Alliance, if memory serves, is the third-largest private lable credit card issuer after Synchrony and Citi. Some of you Maldives-visitin’, Hyatt-stayin’ types might be tempted to turn your nose up at such a product, but consider this:
Red Roof has experienced tremendous brand growth over the last year, fueled by an aggressive development strategy along with an exciting brand enhancement program driven by customer feedback. Red Roof has successfully created the new Upscale Economy hotel segment.
It sounds like they have ambitious, growth-seeking executives who want to build a better image for the brand. Looking at their website, I see they now have a Red Roof Plus brand, so I guess that’s what they’re referring to with that ‘upscale economy hotel segment’ comment.
Has anybody reading this stayed in a Red Roof Plus and/or a Red Roof recently? I have some childhood experience with the brand: when I was young we’d load up the station wagon with four kids and a bunch of luggage for our annual trip to Indiana to visit grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. It was a long drive from the east coast, so we’d often stop for the night at a budget hotel along the way, and this hotel was invariably a Red Roof Inn. If you haven’t had two adults and four kids squeezed into a single Red Roof Inn room, you are missing out on a lot of fun.
But, that was a few decades ago and I don’t currently know a darn thing about the chain. If they want to induce me, via a credit card, to give Red Roof a try, I’m game. Looking at the map below, it seems like there’s pretty good coverage in the eastern part of the U.S.
What say you? Who’s down for some Red Roofing?
Stayed there once 13 years ago while in Houston. Haven’t stayed again. Not that there was anything wrong with the stay per say, it’s just that there haven’t been any near by when a budget motel was needed for the night. If there were to be some sign up bonus for their co-branded CC in the future that resulted in numerous free nights, I could see myself waiting to pull off an exit with one of these instead of any old Motel 6, Days Inn, etc type thing.
If it’s a selling point to some, I believe John Goodman used to do the voice for their mascot.
I have stayed at 2 Red Roof Inn hotels in the past year & they are not nearly as bad as people make them out to be. For a quick night of sleep I absolutely would consider them. It isn’t a destination, but a good stop on the way to your destination.
Thanks for writing an article that isn’t linked to a kickback from one of the large premium hotel chains. I really appreciate that 🙂