The Hotel got its name when neighboring rancher Raymond Pedersen told Mr. Morgan about a hacienda in Mexico called La Quinta. The Hotel includes swimming pools surrounded by cozy casitas, tennis courts, and two golf courses. In 1993, the La Quinta Hotel Golf & Tennis Club was renamed The La Quinta Resort & Club.

The name La Quinta has two distinct origins depending on whether you are referring to the hotel chain or the California city. In Spanish, quinta literally translates to "the fifth," but historically, it referred to a country estate or hacienda. This stems from a medieval system where a tenant would pay one-fifth of their harvest to the landowner. For the La Quinta Inn hotel chain, the name was chosen to evoke the warmth and hospitality of a traditional Mexican hacienda. Regarding the city of La Quinta, California, the name was officially adopted in the 1920s when the La Quinta Hotel (now the La Quinta Resort & Club) was built. Local lore suggests it was named "The Fifth" because it was the fifth stopping point or "stage" on the historic trail between Los Angeles and the desert. Today, in 2026, the brand remains a staple of mid-scale American lodging, maintaining that "hacienda-style" architectural flair in many of its newer properties across the globe.