Budget hotel operator Toyoko Inn Co., Ltd. started in 1986 in Ota, Japan serving business and leisure guests. All its locations are located next to train stations and are reasonably priced for less than $100. It saw significant expansion abroad during the 1990s with operations now extending across France, South Korea, the Philippines, Germany, and Cambodia.

The company currently operates over 300 hotels with women accounting for 97% of its workforce. Almost all its managers are also married women. Its latest opening was in Korea last May with Toyoko Inn Daegu Dongseung-ro. The 11th property of the hotel chain in the country boasts 215 rooms.

Toyoko Inn has plans to build 100 hotels in Vietnam and two in the U.S. in the next few years. Just last year, the Japanese hotel company secured a construction permit to build a 615-room hotel near Union station. If pushed through, it would become Chicago’s 13th largest hotel. Toyoko Inn is also moving forward with its 50-story, 1000+ room hotel in New York. There were also reports it bought a parking lot in Seattle and is planning to expand into Atlanta.

To achieve uniformity in all its hotels and reduce costs, Toyoko Inn uses as many prefabricated materials as possible.