American Airlines Used To Own A Hotel Chain. It’s Now Part Of Marriott And IHG
Pan Am founded Intercontinental Hotels. After all there needed to be places for American consumers to stay in the far flung destinations they served, and as a tool of US foreign policy.
At one point United Airlines owned both Hilton and Westin hotels as part of their attempt at horizontal integration in travel under the Allegis brand. United wouldn’t just sell airline tickets, they’d market the full trip to consumers.
But I’d forgotten that American Airlines had a hotel chain. American, of course, innovated along several dimensions founding several subsidiaries that are now independent companies, like the Sabre computer reservation system and the SkyChefs airline catering company (now LSG SkyChefs).
In 1972 American Airlines, through SkyChefs, leased the 50-story 1842 room Americana Hotel on 7th Avenue (between 52nd and 53rd) from Loews. They also leased the 722-room City Squire Motel on Broadway and the 447-room Americana Resort in Suan Juan along with the 715 room Americana Resort in Bal Harbour. That added to their collection of Ala Moana in Hawaii; Town House Hotel and Flagship Hotel in Rochester, New York; Inn at Six Flags in Arlington, Texas and Flagship Inn in Cincinnati.
Internationally American Airlines also owned El Presidente and Condessa del Mar in Acapulco and owned Fiesta Palace in Mexico City. Their reach even extended to the Chosun Hotel in Seoul the Flagship Beachcomber in Fiji.
These hotels were all merged under the Americana Hotels brand. At the start of 1979 New York’s Americana was sold and became a Sheraton, now the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel.
Sheraton Times Square, Credit: Marriott
Later in 1979 the bulk of the Americana Hotels were acquired by Chicago-based Pick Hotels which by that time extended its reach into Aruba and Guatemala City as well.
Pick Hotels had already been sold to Bass Brothers Enterprises three years earlier. Bass owned Holiday Inn and later added Intercontinental, Crowne Plaza and related brands essentially becoming IHG. The Desmond Hotel Crowne Plaza Albany, for instance, was once an American Airlines hotel.
