La Quinta in Spanish means “The fifth”. It can also mean “the country place”. The story of La Quinta started out at San Antonio, Texas in 1968. La Quinta corporation was made the parent company of the subsidiary called La Quinta properties as they grew to be a large chain with a standardized company-owned hotel and franchised hotel with a symbol of LQ. It also grew outside the United States across Canada, Mexico, and Honduras. La Quinta now has its headquarters in Irving, Texas. In January 2006 a merger closed between a private equity firm, Blackstone group and La Quinta properties for $3.4 billion paid by Blackstone group in cash and debt.
In April 2014 LA Quinta holdings inc was listed on the New York stock exchange where they sold shares to the public for the first time.