With excellent visibility from I-65, the Lafayette-East Howard Johnson's complex was opened in 1973. Modern with its high-rise and Mansard design, the property often received high acclaim from such organizations as the American Automobile Association. After Prime Motor Inns acquired the Howard Johnson's brand, the Lafayette-East property was designated a Plaza-Hotel. The segment was created while Imperial Group owned HoJo's during the 1980s and had been applied to only a few high-end urban properties. Prime used the Plaza-Hotel designation more freely and several of the better Motor Lodges like Lafayette-East became Plazas.

The highly touted six floor HoJo's kept its Orange Mansard until 1995 and then became an excellent Radisson and yet more recently the  Best Western Lafayette Executive Plaza & Conference Center.