Now that the descriptor program has finally passed, Best Western President and CEO David Kong jokes the real work begins. The topic has been discussed for decades, but by February of next year, Best Western will roll out a program for consumers to help clarify the membership organization’s broad base of midscale hotels.

Best Western Premier will be used to describe hotels with physical attributes similar to upper midscale properties, initially defined by hotels surpassing AAA’s three-diamond rating; Best Western Plus will describe middle midscale hotels (AAA three diamonds); and the standard Best Western will be used for lower midscale properties (AAA two diamonds).

Eighty-four percent of Best Western’s North American membership returned ballots and the initiative passed by a 10-percent margin. Kong says a letter was sent to members on April 15 with their descriptor assignments, determined by the AAA rating system, and an explanation of the specific design qualifications for each of the three classifications. Members now have 60 days to decide if they want to accept their assignments and commit to upgrading needed signage for the Plus and Premier categories. They can also request a design review to see if they qualify for a higher level, or any property can choose to remain at the basic Best Western level with no added expense.

Kong says about half of the approximately 2,200 North American properties qualify at the basic Best Western level and the other half qualify for Plus with a handful reaching the Premier level. Although mostly because of cost—upgraded signage will add the terms ‘Plus’ and “Premier’ to participating properties—Kong only expects 700 or so properties to begin with the Plus descriptor and close to two-thirds of the portfolio to remain at the basic Best Western level.

Kong was supposed to be in Europe this week, but was grounded because of the volcanic ash affecting most overseas flights. Instead he took some time to discuss the landmark vote, the ensuing process already underway to implement it and a variety of other topics, including a new extended stay-prototype being explored.

Were you surprised at the results of the vote?
It was exactly what I anticipated. This topic has been discussed in the organization for many years. It’s always been controversial. If you consider 84 percent voted, and we passed by a 10-percent margin, that means at least 40 to 50 percent of two-diamond hotels were in favor of this.

So what happens now?
A day following the ballot, we sent members a letter notifying them of their descriptor assignment. Anyone can request a design visit to be a Best Western Plus or Premier. We’re not banking entirely on the AAA rating system and will use our design guide to award these descriptors. We hired a design company to help outline the design requirements. We have a whole design department here to go out and visit and apply the design requirements and develop property improvement plans (for those properties that want to reach a higher level).

Do you expect to have Premier locations when this rolls out next February?
We have five Atrea hotels (Best Western’s new upper midscale prototype) open now and have 20 under construction and about 10 may open this year. Atrea was designed to be competing at the Premier level, so I imagine most qualify for Premier. Then we have some others that would very easily qualify. A few have expressed interest and we’ll help by going to visit them.

So the AAA rating system isn’t the only criteria?
It’s a consumer relevance system and that’s our first cut. But basically we recognize some hotels perceive those ratings to be unfair or subjective, so we have our own design guidelines.

What’s next for members?
Hotels keeping Best Western won’t have to do anything. Plus and Premier hotels will change out signage, marketing collateral and other collateral. We’re working on a website redesign and our marketing and public relations plans for when we roll this out to consumers in February. From now until then, hotels will be changing out signs.

How much will it cost to upgrade?
If no work needs to be done, just the signage, we made it very cost effective. Since we’re only changing the face of the sign, we estimate it to be $10,000 to $20,000, depending on how many signs and how high they are.

Are there changes to the fee structure?
No, everyone still has the same fee structure. Rights remain the same; everything is the same, same quality assurance requirements. The only difference is the name on the hotel changes. I’m quick to point out this is really a marketing strategy to help consumers understand the variety of hotels we offer.