Drury Hotels
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Drury Inns, Inc, or Drury Hotels is a St. Louis, Missouri based corporation that operates over 120 hotels in a 19 state area. The hotels operated by the company are generally in the lower to upper mid-range in terms of cost and quality. The company does not offer franchises - instead each hotel is owned and operated by the Drury family. The company employs approximately 4,000 people.
The company traces its origins back to the 1940s when Lambert Drury began a plastering business. In 1973, the family opened its first hotel in Sikeston, Missouri. The hotel had a beginning rate of $10.88 a night, which was about 25% below other hotels. In 1986 the company was the first in their market segment to offer a free continental breakfast - which they called Quikstart. Recently, the Quikstart breakfast has been revamped to offer hot items in addition to the more standard fare. In 1998 the company began offering free snacks and beverages during the evenings to hotel guests.
Most of the 1st generation of hotel buildings have since been replaced with newer buildings. These newer buildings are often several stories tall, and are made of concrete with brick exteriors. In most cases when Drury opens a new location it is in a building they have built themselves - however in a few cases they have renovated and moved into existing buildings. One example of this is the Drury Inn - Union Station in Saint Louis, in which the hotel took over an existing building (built in 1907) across from Union Station.
Some Drury hotels offer two room suites. Drury Suites hotels are made up entirely of two room suites. Drury Lodge locations are located in mountain and resort areas. In larger cities, Drury Plaza Hotels are often operated; these are usually attached to a restaurant or are in walking distance of one. They also have full-service meeting and banquet facilities.
In addition to the Drury Inn line of hotels, the company also operates a Pear Tree Inn line of hotels. Many Pear Tree Inns are 1st generation Drury Inns, when the company replaced the older buildings with a new Drury Inn if the company had not torn down the old building they often rebranded the old building as a Pear Tree Inn. A good example of this is in Sikeston, MO. The original Drury Inn became a Pear Tree Inn when another Drury Inn opened at the same address in 1995.
Drury Hotels used to operate two other budget-priced brands, Thrifty Inn and Posada Ana Inn. Due to simplification procedures, all of these have been converted to Pear Tree Inns or sold as of late 2006 and early 2007.
Drury Hotels served as a sponsor for the 2007 Tour of Missouri and sponsor of the Most Aggressive Rider award jersey.
One of the founders, James Drury, died on March 17, 2008. [1]
