Who Owns Country Inn & Suites by Radisson?

Country Inn launched in 1987 under Carlson Companies, the Minneapolis hospitality and travel conglomerate founded by Curt Carlson that also owned Radisson and TGI Fridays. It was built as a warm, homey mid-scale flag drawing on Scandinavian-inspired hospitality, emphasizing fireplaces, cookies, and residential comfort to differentiate from generic mid-scale competition.

The brand grew through the 1990s and 2000s under Carlson's Radisson umbrella, renamed Country Inn & Suites by Carlson to tie it to the Radisson portfolio and later Country Inn & Suites by Radisson. It became a steady mid-tier flag in Carlson's system alongside the premium Radisson and Radisson Blu.

Carlson's hotel business passed through joint ventures and restructuring as Carlson Hotels Worldwide became Carlson Rezidor and then Radisson Hotel Group. Through this period Country Inn & Suites remained a core American mid-market flag, reaching several hundred properties concentrated in the United States.

The pivotal change came in August 2022, when Choice Hotels completed its $675 million acquisition of Radisson Hotels Americas from Radisson Hotel Group. The deal moved the Americas rights to Country Inn & Suites, Radisson, Park Inn, Park Plaza, and Radisson Blu under Choice, integrating roughly 600 hotels into its franchise system.

Since the acquisition, Choice has invested in the flag's franchise growth, reporting an 18 percent increase in its US Country Inn & Suites pipeline and a 50 percent rise in franchise agreements through 2025, positioning it as its primary upper-midscale option within the expanded Radisson Americas portfolio.