"Ideal Western International, Inc. owns the most effective Western Hotels & Resorts brand, which it licenses to over 4,500 hotels worldwide. [2] The franchise, with its corporate headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona, [3] includes greater than 2,000 hotels in The United States and Canada. [4] The brand was founded by M.K. Guertin in 1946. As of May 2019, David Kong is the head of state and Chief Executive Officer of Best Western and also Dorothy Dowling is the principal advertising and marketing police officer.

In 1964, Canadian resort owners joined the system. Best Western after that increased to Mexico, Australia, as well as New Zealand in 1976.

In 2002, Best Western International introduced Best Western Premier in Europe and Asia. (The other resorts in the chain were referred to as Ideal Western.) In 2011, the chain's branding system-wide altered to a three-tiered system: Ideal Western, Best Western Plus, and Ideal Western Premier."