Candlewood Hotel Company, Inc. is a leader in the extended-stay segment of the American hotel industry. Its hotels resemble apartment complexes, and guests, most of them ... Keep Reading

Candlewood Hotel Company, Inc. is a leader in the extended-stay segment of the American hotel industry. Its hotels resemble apartment complexes, and guests, most of them business travelers, typically stay for two weeks or more. Candlewood hotels offer studio or one-bedroom suites, each equipped with a kitchen and a large work table, two-line phone, and many other amenities. Unlike other hotels, Candlewood Suites have no attached bar or restaurant, and do not have a front desk staffed all night.
Candlewood Hotel Company is publicly traded and is listed on the NASDAQ Exchange under the symbol CNDL. The company's annual revenues exceed $131 million and they employ over 1,200 people. Candlewood Hotel Company has its headquarters in Wichita Kansas.
Candlewood Hotel Company, Inc. was founded by Jack DeBoer, who had made his name in the hotel industry in the 1970s with the Residence Inn chain. DeBoer was raised in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and he earned a business degree from Michigan State University. His family ran a business developing apartments. With a background in apartments, DeBoer got into the hotel business with trepidation. What became the first extended-stay hotel began as a short-term apartment complex, designed for business travelers who would lease a small apartment for a month. DeBoer built the complex in Wichita, Kansas, going into business with a partner, Rolf E. Ruhfus. It opened in 1975 and was originally called Residence Inn.
In 2000 Candlewood Hotel Co. also began its first venture abroad, developing a Candlewood Suites hotel in Berlin with the Irish firm Midlantic Hotels Ltd. The agreement with Midlantic, which was ultimately owned by the Swiss conglomerate ERB Group, gave the hotel company exclusive rights to develop Candlewood Suites in Germany and Switzerland. Although the extended-stay concept was booming in the United States, such hotels were rare in Europe. Midlantic planned to build five Candlewood Suites in Europe over the next several years.