Our Story

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Founding members, Dahya, Kiran and Neil, started DKN with the acquisition of the Surf Motel in Carlsbad, CA and the Marco Polo Inn in Anaheim, CA. This is when the first element of DKN’s three-legged stool was created — Service. Two ordinary motels off of PCH and the 5, delivering world class service at an unbeatable price.

Kiran, Neil, Nila and Shalini worked every position at the hotels, developing a hands-on approach that team members today recognize as the “The Way We Work at DKN”.

By 1987, we had acquired the Park Vue Inn right next to Disneyland — you’d recognize it today as the Econo Lodge across from Disneyland Park. This is when Kiran and Neil stepped on the gas and started buying real estate. But typical of the two, they were never the obvious choice. They were buying properties that were looked twice-over, but they had a vision. They purchased with the intent to renovate, reforming independent properties into franchises, thereby yielding higher returns on their investment. This is where that second element came into play — investors. With the expansion, came DKN Support Center — a cornucopia of proven strategies and passionate team members that still feeds our hotel management system today. This completed the three-legged stool, with our last element — team members.

Ask anyone at DKN today, and that three-legged approach to everything we do still stands.

 

Acquisitions + Constructions:

• Surf Motel Carlsbad, CA
• Marco Polo Inn Anaheim, CA
• Park Vue Inn Anaheim, CA
• Quality Inn Ontario, CA (repositioned as Holiday Inn Express)
• Econo Lodge Flagstaff East, AZ (repositioned as Days Inn)
• Sandman Inn Anaheim, CA (repositioned as Ramada Limited)
• Summer House Inn San Diego, CA

Kiran saw what was invisible to us when in the year 2000 he called our head housekeepers, front office managers, general managers, and support center team members to a meeting room and said: “I want to build a company that is centered around people, that empowers each one, and that has values as a guide. You all know who we are, so let’s together decide our core values”.

We were in that meeting room for 3 days. Countless discussions later about who we are at DKN, and we had our 7 values. Every vote counted.

Acquisitions + Constructions:

• Comfort Inn San Diego, CA (repositioned as Holiday Inn Express)
• Harbor Inn Anaheim, CA (repositioned as Comfort Inn)
• Hampton Inn Flagstaff East (repositioned as Country Inn & Suites)
• Travelodge Midway San Diego, CA
• Midway Motel San Diego, CA (repositioned as Travelodge SeaWorld)
• Newport Bay Inn Costa Mesa, CA (repositioned as Holiday Inn Express)
• Newport Beach Inn Newport Beach, CA (repositioned as Best Western)
• Travelodge San Marcos, CA (repositioned as Ramada Limited)
• Days Inn 1-40 Flagstaff, AZ
• Days Inn San Diego, CA (repositioned as Best Western)
• Del Norte Inn Camarillo, CA (repositioned as Holiday Inn Express)
• Quality Inn Fresno, CA
• Days Inn Route 66 Flagstaff, AZ
• Quality Suites San Clemente, CA (repositioned as Hampton Inn & Suites)
• Conestoga Hotel Anaheim, CA (repositioned as Holiday Inn & Suites)
• Best Western Desert Villa Inn Barstow, CA
• Newport Classic Inn Newport Beach, CA (repositioned as Holiday Inn Express)
• Goodnite Inn Ontario, CA
• Laguna Beach Inn Laguna Beach, CA
• Best Western Westwood Hotel Los Angeles, CA (repositioned as Holiday Inn Express)
• Super 8 Motel Flagstaff, AZ
• Best Western Raffles Inn Anaheim, CA

2006 | Kiran explained a vision — DKN would own and manage higher-end select service properties and sell all the Best Westerns, Days Inns, S8s we currently held. A lot of people questioned the sale of such “money making” properties, but today we hold a portfolio of strong brands and have some exciting projects in the pipeline.

2011 | Customer service, sure. But how do we differentiate the way we do service? In 2011, we worked to create a committee-driven Guest Satisfaction program. This became “Home Away from Home”, or HAFH (you can find neat stories of these in our News). This was our initiative to create a second home for our guests by creating connections, an endeavor each of our team members at our properties seek to provide.

2012 | Around this time, technology began to play a powerful role in our systems and processes. We envisioned a system to get the RPRS, develop team members, keep them engaged and empower them to achieve their goals. This became what we would all call today as People Management, supported by a system that runs our entire operation.

Acquisitions + Constructions:

• Fairfield Inn Buena Park, CA
• Heritage Hotel Sacramento, CA (repositioned as Courtyard inn and Fairfield Inn)
• New Town Place Sacramento, CA
• Fairfield Inn Placentia, CA (repositioned as Quality Inn)
• Amerisuites Hotel Ontario, CA (repositioned as Hyatt Place)
• Country Plaza Inn San Clemente, CA (repositioned as Holiday Inn Express)
• Hilton Garden Inn San Bernardino, CA

It’s 2014, and we are sitting in an OC Vistage meeting, when the presenter explained that all successful companies had one thing in common — a detailed vision. A vision such that anyone reading it would understand exactly where the company is heading. We missed Kiran at the office that next day. He spent a day at the park writing the DKN 3 year vision that we now continue to drive to completion.

Over the last 32 years, we’ve acquired, built and sold over 40 hotels. With 6 projects underway this year and a vision as strong and aggressive as ever, we’re excited to see what all we create in these next years — starting with the Springhill Suites in Carlsbad.

We come full circle since 1984, as we rebuild the Surf Motel acquired 33 years ago and say hello to something new.

Acquisitions + Constructions:

• Springhill Suites Anaheim Maingate Anaheim, CA
• Cardiff-by-the-Sea Lodge Cardiff, CA
• Hilton Hotel San Bernardino, CA (repositioned as DoubleTree)
• Wyndham Garden Ventura Pierpont Inn Ventura, CA
• Residence Inn Rancho Cucamonga, CA
• Hampton Inn & Suites Murrietta, CA
• Homewood Suites Irvine, CA
• Springhill Suites Carlsbad, CA