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                                                                     EXHIBIT 5.1

                    [LOCKE PURNELL RAIN HARRELL LETTERHEAD]


                                                (214) 740-8675



May 21, 1996




Wyndham Hotel Corporation
2001 Bryan Street, Suite 2300
Dallas, Texas  75201

Ladies and Gentlemen:

   
         We have acted as counsel for Wyndham Hotel Corporation, a Delaware
corporation (the "Company"), in connection with the registration under the
Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Act"), of up to 345,000 additional
shares of the Company's Common Stock, $.01 par value per share (the "Additional
Securities"), pursuant to a Registration Statement (the "Rule 462(b)
Registration Statement") filed under Rule 462(b) to the Securities Act of 1933,
as amended, in connection with the proposed public offering described in
Registration Statement No. 333-2214 on Form S-1, as amended (the "Original
Registration Statement"), which was declared effective May 20, 1996.  We have 
examined such documents and questions of law as we have deemed necessary or 
advisable for purposes of this opinion.
    

         Based upon the foregoing, we are of the opinion that the Additional
Securities, when issued and delivered against payment of the purchase price
therefor as contemplated by the Underwriting Agreements (the forms of which are
filed as Exhibits 1.1(a) and 1.1(b) to the Original Registration Statement),
will be legally issued, fully paid and nonassessable.

         The opinion expressed above is limited in all respects to the laws of
the State of Texas, the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware and
the federal laws of the United States of America, each as presently in effect.

         This letter is furnished by us as counsel to you in connection with
the above referenced public offering and is solely for your benefit and not for
the benefit of any other person.  This letter may not be relied upon by you for
any other purpose or relied upon or furnished to any other person without our
prior written consent.
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Wyndham Hotel Corporation
May 21, 1996
Page 2


         We consent to the filing of this opinion as an exhibit to the Rule
462(b) Registration Statement and to the reference to our firm in the
prospectus contained therein under the caption "Legal Matters".  In giving this
consent, we do not thereby admit that we come within the category of persons
whose consent is required under Section 7 of the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended, or the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission
promulgated thereunder.

                                        Respectfully Submitted,

                                        LOCKE PURNELL RAIN HARRELL
                                        (A Professional Corporation)



                                        By: /s/ JOHN B. MCKNIGHT 
                                            -----------------------------------
                                            John B. McKnight