Calling it “the most franchise friendly brand in the hotel industry,” lodging industry veteran Steve Belmonte yesterday launched a new franchise company, Centerstone Hotels. Belmonte, one-time president of Ramada Inns and current owner of Hospitality Solutions, has joined with Neal and Cory Jackson of Key West Inns to create a franchise product he says will “combine the lowest fee structure in the industry with short-term agreements and some great consumer programs, all backed up by a huge and effective support system.”

The Key West Inn system will form the initial backbone of Centerstone, with 18 to 20 of its 23 existing properties expected to convert to the new brand within 90 days of Centerstone’s June 1 launch. “While this may be a new brand, we’re beginning with 20 hotels open and operating, so we’re not starting at ground zero,” said Belmonte during a web-based press conference. “Also, we have an infrastructure in place that we’ll be building upon.”

Belmonte and the Jackson brothers own the company, with Steve serving as CEO, Neal as president and Cory as vice president. Operational headquarters is in Birmingham, AL, while development activities will be directed from an office in Orlando. Centerstone will be a three-tier product. Centerstone Inns, two-diamond-quality properties with either interior and exterior corridors and offering basic services; Centerstone Hotels, a full-service three-diamond product similar to Ramada or Holiday Inn hotels; and Centerstone Plaza Hotels, larger properties with services and amenities typical of four-diamond quality.

Centerstone Hotels CEO Steve Belmonte

In addition to an operating philosophy Belmonte says is built around the 12 points of fair franchising advocated by the Asian-American Hotel Owners Association, the hallmark of Centerstone for owners is its low fee schedule: a $1,500 application fee, $10,000 initial fee and ongoing royalties of about 2.6% of gross rooms revenue. The company says the fee schedule can save owners hundreds of thousands of dollars when compared to the cost of comparable chains.

It will also offer a range of guest service and marketing tools to help owners build business. While short on product and amenity mandates, the Centerstone system will have several distinguishing features. On each front desk will be an aventurine stone, a symbol of good luck and a purported stress reliever. At check out, guests will receive one of the stones with a note wishing them well on their travels. Start Your Day With a Smile is a program in which guests will get a joke of the day placed under their doors each morning. Finally, hotels must comply with a Certified Clean Rooms program, with a certificate placed at the foot of each guestroom bed that includes the phone number of the general manager.

The brand has big plans to help owners market and revenue manage their properties. The company contracted with Whiteboard Labs to create and operate its voice, GDS and web reservations system. It will also institute a rewards program that offers members 15% room discounts, late checkouts and free room upgrades. The program carries no added fees to the properties.

Each property will be assigned a revenue enhancement manager to assist with corporate revenue programs, web optimization, education and training and competitive market analysis. “We’ll also watch each property’s presence on the big travel websites and help them get more visibility on Google Maps, Yahoo Local and other crucial sites,” said Neal Jackson. “We’ll look for all revenue opportunities on the Internet and heavily use Facebook and Twitter to give a consistent corporate message announcing promotions and coupon offers.”