“We were bigger than Marriott. Bigger than Hilton,” Bill Isbell said.
Bill Isbell had a front-row seat to the founding of what became the Ramada Inn chain 70 years ago with development of a hotel at the crossroads of Route 66 and Highway 89 in Flagstaff.
Isbell, now 88 and living in Phoenix, was a teenager when he made a small investment with his father, Marion, and other investors to develop roadside motels. That included the Bagdad Inn in Las Vegas, along with Flamingo, Sahara and Hiway House motels. But it was the Ramada name and concept that became a business bonanza for the investment group.
In 1954, the investors built the 60-room Flamingo Motor Hotel just west of today’s Y-intersection at Milton Road and Route 66. It was remodeled and rebranded as a Ramada Inn around 1959, making it one of the first Ramadas, Isbell said.
The Ramada at that location is now a Super 8 Motel. Wyndham Hotels and Resorts is now the parent company of Ramada. Wyndham has 850 hotels under the Ramada brand.
Bill Isbell’s father, Marion, was a rags-to-riches entrepreneur who became a leader in America’s hospitality industry. He transformed himself from a cotton-picking orphan in Tennessee to a top Chicago restaurateur and ultimately a founder and chief executive of Phoenix-based Ramada Inns Inc., one of America’s largest motel chains, by the early 1970s.
Ramada had 500 motels in 45 states. Only Holiday Inn was larger.
“We were bigger than Marriott. Bigger than Hilton,” Bill Isbell said.
He made his first investment in what became Ramada Inn in the summer of 1954 before his freshman year at the University of Notre Dame.
Some of the other investors included:
Del Webb, then owner of the New York Yankees, a major government construction contractor during World War II who developed Sun City.
Max Sherman, a Texas produce supplier known as the “Tomato King.”
Michael Robinson, an experienced hotelier who served as managing partner.
During college, Bill Isbell worked summers at the investment group’s hotels. He graduated from Notre Dame in 1958 with a degree in economics, then served four years in the U.S. Navy as a naval air intelligence officer.
By then, Ramada was becoming a major player in the U.S. hotel industry after establishing a franchise system in 1959.
Ramada’s timing was fortunate as the company expanded to meet the growing demand of middle-class families in station wagons vacationing at Grand Canyon, Old Faithful, Disneyland and other attractions.
Bill Isbell started working full time at Ramada in 1962. Months later, Ramada Inns Inc. became a public company with 19 Ramadas and seven other hotels.
As the boss’s son, he spent six years learning the business with a number of assignments.
“I took over in February 1969 as executive vice president,” Isbell said in a recent interview.
Marion Isbell stayed on a few more years as CEO but was not active in running the business, said Bill, who took the reins officially as chief executive by 1974. Marion stayed on as chairman until 1978. He died in Scottsdale a decade later at age 83.
“He started Ramada Inns, but I initiated key elements that allowed Ramada to reach its zenith,” Bill Isbell said.
That included development of a Ramada reservation system, forming
an in-house contracting company to build motels and scouting for good motel locations, Isbell said. He also led expansion efforts into Europe, Asia, South America, Australia and Mexico.
The first Ramada Inn was a colonial design with a two-story, red-brick building. It had indoor hallways, a large portico and round columns. The lobby featured a crystal chandelier and a curving, glass staircase. Ramada’s mascot was a colonial lamplighter and the chain promised “Luxury for Less.”
The Ramada on West 66 in Flagstaff followed that architectural formula and featured a large monument sign. Ramada opened another Flagstaff inn just east of Fourth Street on Route 66.
In 1959, the investors opened their flagship Ramada Inn in Phoenix at 3838 E. Van Buren St. The $2.5 million property included 300 rooms, an Olympic-sized swimming pool and a San Francisco cable car replica.
Isbell worked 19 years at Ramada, nearly half of it as a top executive. He resigned as CEO in 1981 in the wake of Ramada’s troubled redevelopment of a casino hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Isbell opposed the deal to buy and renovate the old Ambassador Hotel in Atlantic City. But Ramada board members all voted in favor of the project.
“It was the biggest mistake I ever made,” Isbell said. “I could have killed the deal but didn’t when I had the chance. I didn’t trust my own instincts.”
It cost $30 million to buy the property. The initial development plan was estimated at $135 million for renovation and new construction of the casino hotel. Interference by New Jersey’s Casino Control Commission and price gouging by contractors with mob ties increased the cost to close to $330 million, Isbell said.
With Atlantic City costs soaring, Isbell took the fall and resigned. He cashed in his Ramada stock and was in a position to live a comfortable life without working again.
In 1988, Ramada sold its hotels and restaurants for $540 million and restructured the company, creating Aztar Corp., which held onto its gaming entities. That included Tropicana casino hotels in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, and Ramada Express in Laughlin, Nevada. FBN
By Peter Corbett, FBN
Courtesy Photo: This is what the Flagstaff Flamingo Motor Hotel on West Route 66 looked like in the 1950s. It was remodeled and rebranded as a Ramada Inn, circa 1959.