Omni Hotels & Resorts is an American

privately held A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in the respective listed markets, but rather the company's stock is ...

, international luxury

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared ...

based in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

. The company was founded in 1958 as Dunfey Hotels, and operates 50 properties in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

, and

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

, totaling over 20,010 rooms and employing more than 23,000 people.

History

Dunfey Hotels was founded in 1958, when the Dunfey brothers added a 32-room motel to their Lamie's Tavern restaurant property in Hampton, New Hampshire. They soon established a hotel chain throughout New England, including 14

Sheraton Hotels Sheraton Hotels and Resorts is an international semi-luxury hotel chain owned by Marriott International. As of June 30, 2020, Sheraton operates 446 hotels with 155,617 rooms globally, including locations in North America, Africa, Asia Pacific, Ce ...

franchises in 1964. In 1968, the Dunfeys acquired the near-bankrupt

Parker House Hotel Parker may refer to: Persons * Parker (given name) * Parker (surname) Places Place names in the United States * Parker, Arizona *Parker, Colorado * Parker, Florida * Parker, Idaho * Parker, Kansas * Parker, Missouri * Parker, North Carolina *Park ...

in Boston. In 1971, the brothers sold Dunfey Hotels to the Hartford-based

Aetna Life Insurance Company Aetna Inc. () is an American managed health care company that sells traditional and consumer directed health care insurance and related services, such as medical, pharmaceutical, dental, behavioral health, long-term care, and disability plans, ...

, which retained the brothers to manage the properties. In 1976,

Aer Lingus Aer Lingus ( ; an anglicisation of the Irish , meaning "air fleet" compare Welsh 'llynges awyr') is the flag carrier of Ireland. Founded by the Irish Government, it was privatised between 2006 and 2015 and it is now a wholly owned subsidiar ...

, the national airline of Ireland, purchased Dunfey Hotels from Aetna. In 1983, Dunfey Hotels acquired the small Atlanta-based Omni International Hotels chain from

Cousins Properties Cousins Properties Incorporated is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that invests in office buildings in Atlanta, Charlotte, Austin, Phoenix, Tampa, and Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The company has developed notable propertie ...

. The chain had been formed in 1973 and consisted of three hotels in Atlanta, Norfolk and Miami. Dunfey Hotels was reorganized into two operating divisions, with Omni Hotels focusing on large, upscale modern hotels, while the remaining smaller motels and Sheraton franchises were branded as Dunfey Hotels while they were divested over the following three years. In 1988, Aer Lingus sold Omni Hotels to World International Holdings, Ltd., and the

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

–based conglomerate The Wharf (Holdings) Limited for $135 million. Those companies, in turn, sold Omni in February 1996 to Texas-based

private equity In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a t ...

investor An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital most of the time the investor purchases some species of property. Type ...

Robert Rowling Robert B. Rowling (born 1953) is an American billionaire businessman, and the Founder of TRT Holdings, the holding company of Omni Hotels. Early life A native of Corpus Christi, Texas, Rowling has an undergraduate degree from the University of T ...

TRT Holdings TRT Holdings is a private holding company based in Dallas, Texas,TRT H ...

, who moved the chain's headquarters for the very first time, from Hampton to his own base of Corpus Christi, Texas. The following year, Omni's headquarters moved again, to Dallas. In 2000, Omni Hotels struck a deal with

Turner Broadcasting Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (alternatively known as Turner Entertainment Networks from 2019 until 2022) was an American television and media conglomerate. Founded by Ted Turner and based in Atlanta, Georgia, it merged with Time Warner ( ...

to build a 600-room tower wing addition next to their existing hotel located in the

CNN Center The CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, is the international headquarters of the Cable News Network ( CNN). The main newsrooms and studios for several of CNN's news channels are located in the building. The facility's commercial office space is occ ...

. The new wing opened in 2003. Omni bought Time Warner's share of the building in 2017. In 2010, Omni Hotels purchased the Omni Amelia Island Resort in Florida for $67.1 million. In January 2013, Omni Hotels acquired ClubCorp's Montelucia Resort & Spa. In June 2013, Omni Hotels acquired 5 properties (Barton Creek Resort & Spa in Austin, TX - La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, CA - Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa in Rancho Mirage, CA - The Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC - The Homestead in Hot Springs, VA) from

KSL Capital Partners KSL Capital Partners is a Private-equity firm based in Denver, Colorado specializing in travel and leisure investments. Many of the investments have involved Colorado ski resorts. Since its founding in 2005, the firm has raised more than $13 bill ...

. With this deal - worth $900 million according to ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' - Omni Hotels became an owner and operator of iconic American golf resorts. In July 2013, Omni Hotels assumed management and operations of the

King Edward Hotel The Omni King Edward Hotel is a historic luxury hotel in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The hotel is located at 37 King Street East, and it occupies the entire block bounded by King Street on the north, Victoria Street on the east, Colborne ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, and bought shares of the property. In December 2015, Omni Hotels acquired the Omni Mount Washington Resort from

CNL Financial Group CNL Financial Group (CNL), formerly Commercial Net Lease, is an Orlando, Florida based private investment management and commercial real estate company. It was started in 1973 by James Seneff. The company has been a major player in efforts to rede ...

, which it had operated under its brand since 2009. In March 2018, Peter Strebel was named President of Omni Hotels & Resorts. In December 2020, unions criticized Omni for using the

Paycheck Protection Program The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is a $953-billion business loan program established by the United States federal government during the Donald Trump administration in 2020 through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARE ...

to obtain a low-interest loan for business purposes, rather than using the money to pay workers (which would have turned the loan into a grant). In March 2021, Omni sold five aging properties - Omni Dallas Hotel at Park West, Omni Houston Hotel at Westside, Omni San Antonio Hotel at the Colonnade, Omni Jacksonville Hotel and Omni Austin Hotel at Southpark.

Properties

All hotels managed and/or owned by Omni Corporate. The company had one franchised property, in Cancun, from 1988-2022.

United States

International

References

External links