La Quinta Announces Latin American Expansion With Development Agreements For Cities In Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua And Panama

FAJARDO, Puerto Rico, Feb. 25, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- At its 2013 La Quinta Conference here, La Quinta announced it is accelerating its international growth, through a series of agreements with an affiliate of Grupo Santos, a Honduran organization whose affiliates include a construction and development company.  The agreements will bring La Quinta hotels to cities in Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Panama.  

Grupo Santos first expects to develop a hotel of more than 100 rooms in Tegucigalpa, the capital city of Honduras. Construction is expected to begin by summer of 2013 and a grand opening is anticipated in early 2014.  In addition to the hotel in Tegucigalpa, the agreements with Grupo Santos also call for the development of new construction hotels in the following key cities:

• San Pedro Sula, Honduras
• Comayagua, Honduras
• Choluteca, Honduras
• Roatan, Honduras
• Managua, Nicaragua
• Panama City, Panama
• Guatemala City, Guatemala

Rajiv Trivedi, La Quinta's Executive Vice President and Chief Development Officer, said, "We are proud to announce these agreements as we gather at the 2013 La Quinta Conference and are even more excited to welcome Grupo Santos and its CEO, Elvin Santos, to the La Quinta family."  He concluded, "We are delighted to have found the right franchise partner in Elvin Santos and his company to further accelerate our growth in the promising Latin American region."

La Quinta now has agreements covering cities in eight countries in North America and Latin America. Last year, La Quinta announced an agreement for the development of hotels in Colombia and expects to add new hotels in Mexico before the end of 2013.

Elvin Santos said, "We are proud and happy to join the La Quinta family at this important moment. It is also an exciting time to be building in Latin America." He concluded, "We look forward to expanding in additional markets, and delivering the outstanding product, service and guest experience that will be the hallmark of our success."

Based in Honduras, Grupo Santos is an experienced and respected development company that has decades of experience in real estate and infrastructure development. Its CEO, Elvin Santos, is the former Vice President of the Republic of Honduras and is an active philanthropist and public servant.

"La Quinta's continuing growth is a testament to our commitment to guest satisfaction and the relationship we have with our franchise partners," said Wayne Goldberg, La Quinta's President and Chief Executive Officer. "We are very happy to announce this new relationship with Grupo Santos and the continued expansion of our brand worldwide. We look forward to working together toward mutual successes in Latin America in the months and years ahead."

At its annual La Quinta Conference with more than 1,300 owners and general managers, La Quinta emerges from another exciting year of growth in 2012. In addition to its consistent recognition as the fastest growing select-service brand in the industry, La Quinta expects to announce additional international growth in the coming weeks.

About La Quinta
LQ Management L.L.C. is one of the largest operators of select-service hotels in the United States.  Based in Irving, Texas, the Company operates and provides franchise services to more than 830 hotels in 46 states, Canada and Mexico under the La Quinta Inn^® and La Quinta Inn & Suites^® brands. For reservations or more information about La Quinta, please visit www.LQ.com or call 1-800-SLEEPLQ.  Follow La Quinta Inns & Suites on Twitter at: twitter.com/LQ or on Facebook at: facebook.com/laquinta.

SOURCE LQ Management L.L.C.