Creating descriptors or tiers to help consumers understand Best Western’s diverse group of hotels has long been discussed and debated, but always considered an impossible mission. This week in Vancouver at Best Western’s annual convention—aptly titled “Mission Possible”—executives took the stage and were able to talk about executing the strategy rather than selling it.

In February, the membership organization will unveil to consumers its new descriptor approach, with approximately 815 Best Western Plus properties, 15 Best Western Premier properties and the remainder of the 2,200 North American hotels will keep the Best Western name. The average cost for members upgrading, if only the signage needed replaced, was $20,000 per property.

“We want (customers) to recognize and understand the differentiation so they will try the product,” Ron Pohl, senior vice president brand management and member services, told a crowd of approximately 2,500 attendees during a general session at the Vancouver Convention Centre. “It's about aligning the right product with the right customer … None of our hotels are cookie cutter and we now have the opportunity to remove the confusion and turn this into an advantage.”

President and CEO David Kong called 2009 a “perfect storm” of increasing supply and decreasing demand, but said despite another challenging year, “there should be no question we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.”

He said Best Western began cutting expenses in 2007 and boosted its advertising and promotion budgets, which was now paying off. “During a time when many hotel brands have cut back their advertising spend, our ads stand out and we see an exponential return on our investment,” he said.

Best Western’s revenue per available room fell 12.7 percent last year, compared to 16.7 for the entire industry. This year Best Western has bettered the industry by more than seven points (up 11.7 percent vs. 4.5 percent for the industry), added Kong. Dorothy Dowling, senior vice president of marketing and sales, later said the company had tapped into $7 million from reserves for the increased ad spend over the last two years.

Dowling presented members with proposals for the new advertising budget and balloting would continue through this month, but she expected approval.

She also announced a new partnership with Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer of National Geographic TV fame. Details hadn’t yet been finalized, but the plan was for a three-year publicity and tour sponsorship agreement. Almost 90 percent of Best Western properties are pet friendly and the partnership aimed to introduce and leverage the brand to more pet lovers.

Dowling and Kong also outlined goals to increase Best Western’s loyalty program, which has approximately 12 million members and drove more than $677 million in revenue last year. Kong asked each hotel to add one member a day.

With the descriptor strategy in place, Pohl talked about further enhancements to it, beginning with breakfast. “We all need to recognize that with descriptors we have the opportunity and obligation to rethink breakfast,” he told the crowd.

He suggested Premier properties would offer eggs cooked to order with breakfast meat and other improved items, while Plus would include a hot egg offering and breakfast meat, and the basic Best Western level would improve its offerings by adding a waffle, yogurt and better coffee.

Questions he had for members were whether full-service hotels in all descriptors should be allowed to charge for breakfast and whether a free continental breakfast should be a requirement for all hotels. Members were polled on those questions and more this week and Pohl said during a media session that he expected to have further discussions at the next governance meeting in February to put some parameters on the options.

“We know and recognize we have to think about breakfast differently,” he said. “One breakfast size doesn’t fit all.”