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🟡 FORMERLY PE OWNED
La Quinta
mid-scale hotel · Irving, TX
PE Firm
Blackstone Group
Year Acquired
2006
“Three billion in debt, roaches in the rooms, and Blackstone still cashed out.”
What Happened
- •Blackstone acquired La Quinta in 2006 for $3.4 billion, investing just $475 million of equity and loading $3+ billion in debt
- •Had to restructure $3.05 billion in debt after the 2008 recession, negotiating a $2.65 billion extension
- •Guest reviews cite persistent quality issues: roaches in food, broken doors unfixed for months, and 1.1-star average rating
- •Eventually sold franchise business to Wyndham in 2018 for $1.95 billion, with real estate spun off separately
The Damage Done
- â–¸Converted 128 non-La Quinta hotels to the brand, diluting quality standards across the expanded portfolio
- ▸Shifted aggressively to franchise model — franchised hotels grew from 158 to 466, spreading the brand thin with less quality control
- ▸Eventually flipped to Wyndham in 2018 — La Quinta went from independent brand to subsidiary of a budget hotel conglomerate