With the fuel gauge nearing empty as the desert sun began to fade, Mike and Anita Costello started scanning roadside billboards for motels.
When they spotted a blue-and-gold Best Western sign, the couple followed directions off the freeway and checked in."We've been staying at Best Westerns for years," said Costello, relaxing by the pool at the Best Western Coronado Motor Hotel in Yuma, Ariz. "You pretty much know what you're going to get. It may not be overly fancy, but it's usually clean and affordable."
For half a century, weary travelers like the Costellos, retirees from Santa Ana, Calif., have been pulling off the highway to spend the night at a Best Western, knowing they're likely to find a comfortable room at a price that won't bust their budget.
Founded by hotelier M.K. Guertin in 1946, Best Western International Inc. has grown from a loose-ly knit group of mom-and-pop motels in the West into a membership association of 3,500 independently owned and operated hotels in 65 countries. Revenues of the Phoenix-based company totaled $7 billion in 1995.
Looking to drum up extra business for his Long Beach, Calif., hotel, Guertin hit the road to enlist other hoteliers to refer travelers his way. He, in turn, would do the same for them, and together they would share marketing expenses.
Guertin recruited 66 motels for his informal referral system, and Best Western was born. Only four of the original charter members are still Best Westerns today: The Coronado in Yuma; the Best Western Rancho Grande in Wicken-burg, Ariz.; the Best Western Hitching Post Inn in Cheyenne, Wyo., and the Best Western El Rey Inn in Cedar City, Utah.
Guertin is credited with revolutionizing the lodging industry by introducing mattresses, linens, running hot water, air conditioning - even sanitized toilet seat strips. And his Best Western Travel Guide became a bible for vacationing families who piled into station wagons to see America after World War II.
In 1946, when John Peach was a boy growing up in his parents' Coronado Motor Hotel in Yuma, rooms went for $2.50 to $5 a night. Today, a single goes for $40, a double for $50 - including free in-room movies and continental breakfast.
"Most Best Westerns are family owned and the owners have a personal interest in it," said Peach, who makes his own repairs at the 86-unit hotel while his wife, Yvonne, acts as bookkeeper and front desk clerk.
Ron Evans, Best Western's president and chief executive officer, says his own family looked for the Best Western crown logo on vacations when he was a boy in Indiana.
"One of the things the Best Western sign symbolizes is a `Good Housekeeping seal of approval,' " Evans said. "I think what people think of when they see us is what we want them to identify with - caring, personal service, clean, comfortable rooms, convenient locations worldwide, and the best bang for the buck in the marketplace."
Although best known for its middle-priced lodgings, the company said about 20 percent of Best Western members offer pricier luxury or resort accommodations.
Best Western, which bills itself as the world's largest lodging chain, added 295 new member hotels in 1995 and hopes to add 180 more in the United States and Canada this year.
Well established in the West and Midwest, Best Western sees its biggest opportunities for growth in the Northeast, Southeast and parts of Canada. With properties from Argentina to Zimbabwe, Best Western also plans to continue expanding overseas.
Travel and tourism are growing rapidly both in the United States and abroad, and with baby boomers nearing retirement and ready to hit the road, Best Western's next half-century looks bright, Evans said.
"I think the outlook for our industry and Best Western is straight up," Evans said.