The Ascend Hotel Collection was launched during the recession of 2008. It was an early example of "soft branding" in the hotel industry.[1][8][9] While the meaning of "soft brand" varies, a simple definition by Robert Rauch is "a hotel that is backed by a leading brand whose name does not appear on the building".[8] Soft branded hotels may sometimes be newly constructed properties, but they typically already have an established presence.[10]
Ascend Collection properties are independently operated, leading to wide variation in theme and design.[5][11][12][13] Early Ascend Collection locations included the Golden Hotel in Golden, Colorado, the Kress Inn in De Pere, Wisconsin, and Hotel Bothwell in Sedalia, Missouri.[14] While primarily a group of pre-existing boutique hotels that signed onto the Ascend brand, Choice Hotels undertook some new construction initiatives in the mid-2010s, signing contracts in 2014 for 11 newly built Ascend Collection hotels.[15]
In 2016, the brand announced a three-year expansion in Europe, adding up to 10 properties in the U.K., and 80 across the mainland. This built upon the brand's existing portfolio of 20+ hotels outside the U.S., which included six locations in Sweden, two each in Ireland and Norway, and one in Denmark.[16]
The Ascend Collection is widely considered to be the hotel industry's first soft brand.[1][6][17][18] By the end of 2024, the Ascend Collection had more than 400 locations across the Americas, Europe, Middle-East, and the Asia-Pacific region, with over half of its properties in the U.S.[2] A new logo for the Ascend Collection brand was introduced in 2025.[19]
