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| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Hospitality |
| Founded | 1990 |
| Headquarters | Oslo, Norway |
| Area served | Scandinavia, Finland and the Baltic |
| Key people | Petter Stordalen, Owner and President Torgeir Silseth, CEO |
| Products | Hotels |
| Operating income | 11,200,000,000 Norwegian krone (2019)  |
| Number of employees | >17,000 |
| Divisions | Comfort Hotel Quality Hotel Clarion Hotel Clarion Collection Hotel Nordic Hotels & Resorts |
| Website | strawberryhotels.com |
Strawberry (formerly known as Nordic Choice Hotels) is one of the largest hotel companies in Scandinavia with 240 hotels in Scandinavia, Finland and the Baltics and over 16,500 employees. It is a franchisee of Choice Hotels International. The franchise agreement gives the company the right to use three brands and their umbrella brands. Apart from that, Nordic Choice Hotels is in most aspects run independently from Choice International. Strawberry also runs more than 120 restaurants, 20 SPAs and a number of gyms, conference halls and arenas.
History
Nordic Choice Hotels was established in Norway in 1990 as Choice Hotels Scandinavia. During 1994 the company signed a franchise agreement with Choice Hotels International that gave them the right to market its hotels as Comfort, Clarion and Quality hotels. The company was listed at the Oslo stock exchange in 1997, but was lifted in 2005 when Home Invest (owned by business man Petter Stordalen) bought 100% of the stock.
In 2018, Petter Stordalen transferred ownership of the company to his three children – Emilie, Jacob and Henrik Stordalen. In 2006 Torgeir Silseth became CEO for the Nordic Choice Hotels Group and continues to be the CEO in 2024.
In 2021, the chain was hit with a Conti (ransomware) attack and hackers demanded $5 million in ransom. After the attack, the chain adopted ChromeOS on its computers company-wide. Hackers had previously leaked sensitive customer and employee data on the dark web.
On 22 May 2023, Nordic Choice Hotels is renamed Strawberry.
Brands
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The hotels are marketed under four brands and one independent group. As of 2024, Strawberry operated overall 242 hotels located throughout Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Lithuania.
- Clarion Hotel
- Clarion Collection Hotel
- Quality Hotel
- Comfort Hotel
- Nordic Hotels & Resorts, often under Ascend Hotel Collection branding, with many operating under an additional independent name
References
- "Nordic Choice Hotels byter namn till Strawberry". Fastighetsvärlden (in Swedish). 2022-06-20. Retrieved 2024-01-15.
- Pilsetnek, Nellie (2023-05-22). "Petter Stordalens hotellkedja byter namn – Nordic Choice Hotels blir Strawberry". Resumé (in Swedish). Retrieved 2024-01-15.
- "Nordic Choice blir Strawberry – "Målet är fortfarande att vara bäst"". Realtid (in Swedish). 2023-05-22. Retrieved 2024-01-15.
- "Stordalen ger hotellkedjan till barnen". SvD.se (in Swedish). 2018-01-20. Retrieved 2024-01-15.
- "Corporate Management at Strawberry". Strawberry. 2023-01-24. Retrieved 2024-01-15.
- Stupp, Catherine (2022-01-12). "Inside a Ransomware Hit at Nordic Choice Hotels". WSJ. Archived from the original on 2022-01-12. Retrieved 2024-01-15.
- "Hotel chain switches to Chrome OS to recover from ransomware attack". The Record by Recorded Future. 2022-01-11. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
- "Nordic Choice Hotels bounces back from ransomware attack with ChromeOS Flex".
- Andersson, Gustaf (2021-12-21). "Efter attacken mot Stordalens hotell – hackare läcker känsliga uppgifter". Dagens industri (in Swedish). Retrieved 2024-01-15.
- "Nordic Choice Hotels is becoming Strawberry". www.strawberryhotels.com. 2023-04-30. Retrieved 2023-05-21.
- "State of Nordic Choice". State of Nordic Choice.
- strawberryhotels.com - Hotels retrieved 21 April 2024
