Wyndham International Obtains Rights, Plans Expansion

NEW YORK CITY-After a nearly 40-year struggle, Wyndham International can now enter the hotel market here after winning the right to use the Wyndham brand name. The company is currently exploring as many as six hotel developments in the area that have 500 or more rooms. To facilitate the expansion, the Dallas-based Wyndham purchased the lease of the Wyndham Hotel in Manhattan, which is located at 42 W. 58th St., for an undisclosed sum.

The hotel has been in operation since 1929 and Suzanne and John Mados have served as proprietors since 1966. They also had the exclusive right to use the Wyndham name and trademark in the area, preventing Wyndham International from entering the city marketplace with a branded hotel.

The issue has been the subject of various lawsuits since the early 1990s when Wyndham International attempted to trademark its hotel service brand and faced the leaseholder and the site owner in court. Both cases were settled; however, the company was restricted from using and marketing the brand in the city and nine surrounding counties. Wyndham had even maintained a separate website for its local properties including ones near LaGuardia Airport in Queens and others in Newark, NJ and Westchester.