(Image source: tripadvisor.com) Shares of the hotel chain La Quinta Holdings Inc (NYSE:LQ) will begin trading on the NYSE today. La Quinta is being taken public by the Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE:BX), the private equity firm owns the hotel chain. The IPO was priced at $17 a share, which was below the expected price range of $18 to $21 a share. Blackstone took the cautious route as recent IPO debuts have flamed out. At the current IPO price, the hotel chain raised $650 million with a market of $2.1 billion. The hotel chain will offer 38.25 million shares to the public. Shares of Blackstone are moving higher in anticipation of a successful debut by La Quinta.