Howard Johnson's
Howard Johnson's, or Howard Johnson by Wyndham, is an American hotel chain with locations worldwide, as well as a former restaurant chain. The chain began as a restaurant founded by Howard Deering Johnson in 1925; in the 1950s, the company expanded operations by opening hotels, then known as Howard Johnson's Motor Lodges, which were often located next to restaurants. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, it was the largest restaurant chain in the U.S., with more than 1,000 combined company-owned and franchised outlets.
A Howard Johnson hotel in Quincy, MA. | |
| Formerly | Howard Johnson's |
|---|---|
| Industry | Hotels, formerly restaurants |
| Founded | February 1, 1925 in Quincy, MA (restaurants) 1954 in Savannah, GA (motor lodges) |
| Founder | Howard Deering Johnson |
| Defunct | March 2022 (restaurants) |
| Headquarters | Parsippany, New Jersey , U.S. |
Number of locations | 285 (December 31, 2023) |
Areas served | Worldwide |
Key people | Clement Bence (Brand President) |
| Parent | Wyndham Hotels & Resorts |
| Website | www |
Howard Johnson's restaurants were franchised separately from the hotel brand beginning in 1986 but, in the years that followed, severely dwindled in number until eventually disappearing altogether. The last restaurant, in Lake George, New York, closed in 2022. The line of branded supermarket frozen foods, including ice cream, is no longer manufactured. Since 2006, all hotels and company trademarks have been owned by Wyndham Hotels and Resorts.