In 2007 Home Inn considered building hotels in Taiwan.[7] In October 2007 Home Inn purchased Top Star, a hotel company that had been established two years prior. The transaction netted Home Inn an additional 26 hotels. As of 2008 the company had around 250 hotels, and Home Inn, Motel 168 and Jinjiang Inn together controlled 44% of China's budget hotel market. At that time the company planned to increase the number to 1,000 and to open outlet in other Asian countries.[4] The chain acquired Motel 168 in October 2011.[3]
In April 2016, Home Inn completed the Going Private Transaction and sold to BTG Hotels.[9]
Operations
Home Inn is the largest budget hotel chain in China, and it was the first budget chain that was established in China.[10] Brands include Home Inn (Chinese: 如家酒店; pinyin: Rújiā Jiǔdiàn), Motel 168, Yitel (和颐酒店; Héyí Jiǔdiàn), and Fairyland Hotel (simplified Chinese: 云上四季连锁酒店; traditional Chinese: 雲上四季連鎖酒店; pinyin: Yúnshàng Sìjì Liánsuǒ Jiǔdiàn). Yitel is a business-oriented brand of Home Inn.[11]
^Loesekrug-Pietri, Andre. "Importance of differentiation." China Daily. January 21, 2013. Retrieved on February 18, 2013. "The best credentials for it are that almost all entrepreneurial success stories – Baidu, Ctrip, Lining, Belle, Home Inn, just to mention a few – have been funded by private equity funds."
^Tschang, Chi-Chu. "Empty Beds in China: Olympic Vacancies Haunt Beijing Hotels." Spiegel Online. August 20, 2008. Retrieved on February 18, 2013. "Most of the new hotels being added in Beijing are the projects of local investors who are copying Home Inn, China's first and largest budget hotel chain, and trying to build their own budget hotel chain that targets business travelers who want affordable yet comfortable lodging."