by Madison Rutherford | Photography by Angelina Aragon
Best Western Hotels & Resorts launched in 1946 as an independent hotel referral system, capitalizing on the surge of Route 66 road-trippers. The hospitality chain operated under a single flagship brand when Larry Cuculic was hired as in-house counsel in 2009. Appointed CEO in 2021, the Notre Dame law school grad now leads a network of 18 brands and more than 4,000 properties across 100 countries from BWH Hotels’ Phoenix headquarters. As Best Western turns 80, Cuculic gives us a tour of his office, full of relics that reflect the past, present and future of his life and the brand. “You have to lean into your history, but… recognize you have to grow and evolve over time,” he says.
Cuculic served as an attorney and court-martial judge in the U.S. Army for 20 years. “I learned the importance of preparation… and always looking to do what’s fair and just for all parties.”
Before smartphones, motorists relied on hotel mileage checkers to map their routes. The pocket-size Best Western travel guide “was one of the earliest forms of marketing the brand to guests.”
This one-of-a-kind keepsake is signed by arena rock legends REO Speedwagon, who served as the entertainment for Cuculic’s first BWH Hotels annual convention as CEO.
The proud father of an Air Force pilot, Cuculic had these baseball bats custom-engraved at the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory in Kentucky, where his son performed in airshows in 2009 and 2010.
An avid supporter of late Arizona artist Dorothy Fratt, Cuculic lent pieces from his private collection to the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art for a recent tribute to her work.
At BWH Hotels’ annual conference, limited-edition Larry Cuculic bobbleheads – inspired by that year’s host city – are auctioned for charity. “Last year we were in Seattle, so it was grunge Larry.”
Cuculic’s father and grandfather were bricklayers in his native Indiana. He keeps their wooden masonry levels on his desk as a reminder of his industrious legacy.
