The largest Residence Inn worldwide opened November 2015 as the 380 room Residence Inn Chicago Downtown/Loop. The hotel marked the 700th hotel for Marriott International’s Residence Inn brand and celebrated 40 years since the opening of The Residence in Wichita, Kansas by Jack DeBoer, which introduced the extended stay hotel concept to the industry in 1975.
Hotel News Now published an article last week by Samantha Worgull on the history of Residence Inn brand: Now and then: The history of Residence Inn. The story tells how a real estate slump and apartment vacancies in the 1970s inspired the extended stay hotel concept. Marriott acquired the Residence Inn brand in 1987.
Residence Inn is a nice room if you need an apartment style space. Personally, I can’t recall when I last stayed in a Residence Inn. This brand tends to be award stays on points for me since paid rates only earn 5 points/$1 at Marriott’s extended stay brands of Residence Inn and TownePlace Suites.
