Vantage Hospitality Group last month introduced a new brand — The Lexington Collection — that has the potential to dominate the three- and four-diamond lodging segments just as its Americas Best Value Inn flag has done in the one- and two-diamond tiers.

The new brand includes four product lines — Lexington Hotels, Lexington Plaza, Lexington Suites and Lexington Resorts and Villas — and was officially launched at ABVI's annual conference in Las Vegas with 12 properties already in its portfolio. Similar to its ultra-flexible ABVI membership model, the Lexington brand offers what management calls “free-style lodging membership,“ or as Vantage CEO Roger Bloss says, “We believe you should be in business for yourself, not by yourself.“

The freestyle model has a number of components unique to the hotel business:

• Members choose their fee structure (two percent of gross rooms revenues or a per-room, per-month fee that ranges from $19 to $24) as well as length of contract.

• The fees to join the brand ($2,000 for an application and $15,000 for 100 rooms as an initial fee) include PMS software from either IQWare or AutoClerk.

• Members select from a list of about 30 amenities, of which they must offer at least two-thirds. “Individual owners know their markets better than anyone, so what works in New York City may not be best for a property in Dallas,“ says Bloss.

• Like those in ABVI, members will have a direct voice in discussions regarding brand strategies and standards. Owners of properties that join between now and spring will also get a seat on the chain's advisory board.

Although not limited to condo hotels, the brand hopes to attract upscale properties in that segment. One of the first will be the Lexington Boutique Hotel, a condo hotel property that's part of a mixed-use development in downtown Orlando. Barry Greer, a Vantage partner and one of the founders of ABVI, is developing the property, which opens in April.