CORAL SPRINGS, Florida—Vantage Hospitality’s ascent as a leader in the hotel industry took another step forward in July when it added the brands from America’s Best Franchising to its roster. Now, the company has formed two divisions to capitalize on the 10 brands in its portfolio, and it has chosen two industry development experts who took distinctly different paths to lead the efforts.
Patrick Mullinix, who has been with Vantage since 2002, last week assumed the role of group president of Vantage’s value brands. He will oversee the development and stratification of Signature Inn, America’s Best Inns & Suites, Americas Best Value Inn and Country Hearth Inn & Suites.
Meanwhile, Mark Williams in August was hired as group president of Vantage’s midscale and upscale brands. He will oversee the Lexington Inns, Lexington Hotels, Lexington Legacy, Jameson Inn & Suites and 3 Palms Hotels & Resorts brands.
In addition, on 1 October Vantage appointed Bill Hanley as group president of international development.
The new brand group presidents expect big things as Vantage works its way through the integration process.
“The attraction is to be part of something new that has a lot of potential to grow,” Williams said. “What they’ve done in 15 years is astronomical. I think I can play a part of enhancing that growth in the mid-market segment.
“There will still be some bumps as we separate the infrastructure,” he added. “But there’s pretty much a blank canvas for us to start with.
Vantage launched in 1996 when a group of partners, including current president and CEO Roger Bloss and COO/CFO Bernie Moyle, bought their first hotel. They launched Americas Best Value Inn in 1999. The company has more than 1,300 hotels comprising more than 80,000 guestrooms. Its brand lineup includes (numbers as of 15 July 2014):
- Americas Best Value Inn: 1,058 properties with 63,721 rooms;
- Canadas Best Value Inn: 30 properties with 1,388 rooms;
- Lexington Inns: 21 properties with 1,356 rooms;
- Lexington Hotels: five properties with 962 rooms;
- Lexington Legacy: three properties with 1,021 rooms;
- Value Hotel Worldwide (in South Korea only; it is part of the Lexington brand): two properties with 607 rooms;
- America’s Best Inns: 91 hotels with 5,133 rooms;
- Country Hearth Inn & Suites: 63 hotels with 3,424 rooms;
- Jameson Inn: 22 hotels with 1,565 rooms; and
- 3 Palms Hotels & Resorts (managed by Vantage pending formal closing in January 2015): 13 properties with 1,243 rooms.
“There’s a good story to be told from what Bernie and Roger have done … that can resonate through a lot of people who may not be happy with the other brand opportunities out there,” Williams said.
Mullinix said having more brands to grow is essential as Vantage’s ABVI brand has experienced such aggressive expansion. It now has nearly 1,100 properties located in the United States.
“We have reached critical mass with ABVI and have impacted out in some areas,” Mullinix said. “Prior to the acquisition there were more opportunities that we walked away from than we took in.
“We now have the opportunity to go back out into the marketplace with brands we’re going to refresh,” he added. “Our business model clearly works. … We’re not going to make major modifications to the model.”
Williams said there will be some overlapping in amenities and processes, but that can be effectively managed through communication and transparency.
Concept will stay the same
Vantage won’t lose sight of its “freestyle lodging” concept in which members can choose from a master list of the amenities they want to offer, Mullinix said. However, there most likely will be specific amenities requirements for some of the brands.
“It will be an adapted freestyle lodging philosophy—one that allows the members to still have choices while also setting the base for certain identifiers to be available for certain brands,” Mullinix said.
Williams said he is eager to start growing the brands through featuring Vantage’s fee structure.
“The owner can pick how they pay fees: a percentage of revenue or a per-room charge—whatever fits your model,” Williams said. “We’re geared toward owner success that translates into chain success, not the other way around.”
Mullinix said the company welcomes the challenge of making the brands unique enough so they are not stepping on each other even when there are multiple Vantage-branded properties located on the same street corner.
“That means each brand has its own unique identity outside of its name, and it occupies a specific price point that it competes in,” Mullinix said.
The plan to differentiate and grow the brands will be rolled out to members during the fourth quarter—starting with a system-wide open forum conference call on 20 October and culminating at Vantage’s annual conference and trade show in Las Vegas 8-12 December.
“Vantage is evolving, and this is one major step in our evolutionary journey,” Mullinix said. “At the same time we still maintain the culture we created. We don’t want to move too many degrees away from that.”
Some brand-specific thoughts
The additional brands provide the company with plenty of opportunities, the executives said.
Mullinix said he expects Signature Inn to be a “true budget brand” in the mold of ABVI when it launched 15 years ago.
Country Hearth Inns falls into the top end of the economy segment where there’s a niche market for a suites product, he said.
“Some of the identifiers for that brand will embody what great southern hospitality should look like—hot biscuits and gravy as part of breakfast, complimentary ice tea to all guests at check-in and a fireplace component requirement,” Mullinix said.
Williams said he is intrigued by the possibilities for Jameson, which has a strong presence in tertiary markets in the Southeastern U.S. The average size of the brand’s properties is about 100 rooms.
The Lexington brand will have the opportunity to grow though limited service, full service and soft branding, according to Williams. There are two new construction projects in California and one in Illinois.
Lexington is positioned in the midscale and upper-midscale segments. Jameson is a product that fits into the lower end of the midscale segment, Williams said.
Different paths to leadership
The two group presidents took different paths to get to their positions.
Mullinix remembers the day he sat down with Bloss 12 years ago for a lunch meeting in Dallas to discuss him joining Vantage. Six hours later—when the wait staff at the restaurant asked if they wanted to stay at the same table for dinner—Mullinix knew he had found a home.
“A one-page agreement, very modest fees … I wanted to be part of something that was going to change part of the industry,” Mullinix said.
Much of Vantage’s membership agreement is designed around the same principals as the Fair Franchising platform of the Asian American Hotel Owners Association, Mullinix said.
Williams, meanwhile, spent the last year leading the development efforts of G6 Hospitality’s Motel 6 and Studio 6 brands. Prior to that, he spent 12 years as the VP of North American development for Best Western International.
“I’ve been able to see the growth (of Vantage) while I was a part of other companies,” Williams said. “It’s been interesting to see how fast they’ve gotten to 1,000 properties with a model that is owner friendly.”