History

Sonmar Management is the result of earlier partnerships and companies dating back to 1975. Russell D. Maring has been the common partner since this time. Mr. Maring got the company started by developing his own chain of eight independently owned and managed limited service hotels. The name of these hotels were originally called Econo Inn but later changed to Select Inn. All these properties were sold in 1988 and are still operating today.

In 1982 Mr. Maring was a partner and manager of a group that bought the Oak Manor, a 122 room full-service hotel in Fargo, ND. The hotel was subsequently sold in 1985 and is currently operating under a different independent flag.

In 1988 Mr. Maring created Sonmar Management with one other partner. Over a 10 year period the company developed and managed 32 hotels including Comfort Inn, Comfort Inn & Suites, Sleep Inn, Quality Suites, and Holiday Inn Express in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, and Washington. In 1998, the company sold 20 hotels to Tharaldson Enterprises and retained 12 properties in Washington and Oregon. Since 2002 seven additional hotels have been sold leaving five properties located in Idaho, Oregon, North Dakota, and Washington.