Imperial 400 was an American

motel A motel, also known as a motor hotel, motor inn or motor lodge, is a hotel designed for motorists, usually having each room entered directly from the parking area for motor vehicles rather than through a central lobby. Entering dictionarie ...

chain. It was founded in 1959 by Bernard Whitney in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. Its properties were typically two-story buildings with "gull wing" shaped roofs over the lobby. It was a limited-service hotel chain, competing mainly with

Travelodge Travelodge (formerly TraveLodge) refers to several hotel chains around the world. Current operations include: the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Spain, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and several countries in Asia. However, ma ...

. In 1965, Imperial 400 filed for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, whe ...

. Its headquarters were moved to

Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey Englewood Cliffs is a borough in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, whose population at the 2010 United States census was 5,281.Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county ...

. By the 1980s, the chain was sold to Interpart S.A., a

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

-based company, and was later dissolved. Imperial 400 structures still exist but usually rundown motels, with exception of a few. In Richland, WA a former Imperial is boarded and set to be demolished for new apartments.

References

{{Hotel chains Motels in the United States Defunct hotel chains Defunct companies based in California Hotels established in 1959 Hotels disestablished in 1987 1959 establishments in California 1987 disestablishments in California Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1965

See also

References