By Bikramjit Ray
THEY ARE the world’s eighth largest hotel chain with 1200 hotels across the world. When you speak to Roger Bloss, (photo left) Founder, President and CEO of Vantage Hospitality, you are struck first by his genial directness. Roger spoke exclusively to BW Hotelier about his experience in India and how his 1200 properties already have a huge Indian ownership component.
A career hotelier, who started off washing dishes at 13, became the youngest general manager in the history of IHG, when he took over a Holiday Inn.
His way of running the business was a real disruptor for the market and franchising as it was done till then.
’We put the owners in business for themselves, not by themselves,’ Bloss told BW Hotelier.
Bloss’s model, which hopefully will be repeated in India as well is almost like parliamentary democracy. ’We never set our fees, it’s all done by our owners,’ Bloss says, giving example of the time his owners came to him complaining that there was no national ad campaign. ’I said to them, a campaign would cost a million dollars. If you divide that by the rooms each hotel has, it would mean an increase in the room rent, the fees paid to me,’ he said. It all comes down to a vote where each decision is carried if it has 66 per cent support of the hotels. It’s called a Voice, a Vote.
’I started opening up lines of communication. Created advertising boards, advisory boards, making them (the owners) part of the decision process in the company,’ he adds.
The Vantage Group,-Value Inn Worldwide-and Value Hotel Worldwide and have an-exclusive-master license agreement with Miraya Hotel Management-Pvt. Ltd.
Value Inns & Hotels India will be positioned as 2-4 Star quality hotels,-depending on location, size of the hotel and product for 30 to 65 rooms
.- They will primarily be business hotels offering food & beverage and banqueting facilities for weddings and events.
Vantage, which has hotels across the US, Canada, South Korea, Indonesia and Mexico have a an exclusive contract with Miraya to develop its brands in India.
’Miraya was formed in October 2014, we found that Vantage shared our values with the one voice one vote system and decided to sign on with them,’ Sudhir Sinha, (photo right) Managing Director and CEO,-Value Inns & Hotels India, told BW Hotelier in an exclusive interview.
’We are looking at 10 signings this year out of which 50 per cent operational. In five years our target is 100 hotels in 7 years,’ he told us.
’We will do whatever it takes when it comes to develop the brand. We are prepared to fund the company for three years,’ he added.
’The best part of the vantage brand is that they allow the hotels to build the way they want to. There is a minimum quality guideline which has to be maintained, over and above that; it is the hotel owner’s choice. We have a three-page standardisation for Value inns,’ he told us adding that the Value Inn a Voice a Vote concept will be adopted in India once the company reaches critical mass of hotels, around three years from now.
Bikramjit Ray is Executive Editor, BW Hotelier.
THEY ARE the world’s eighth largest hotel chain with 1200 hotels across the world. When you speak to Roger Bloss, (photo left) Founder, President and CEO of Vantage Hospitality, you are struck first by his genial directness. Roger spoke exclusively to BW Hotelier about his experience in India and how his 1200 properties already have a huge Indian ownership component.
A career hotelier, who started off washing dishes at 13, became the youngest general manager in the history of IHG, when he took over a Holiday Inn.
His way of running the business was a real disruptor for the market and franchising as it was done till then.
’We put the owners in business for themselves, not by themselves,’ Bloss told BW Hotelier.
Bloss’s model, which hopefully will be repeated in India as well is almost like parliamentary democracy. ’We never set our fees, it’s all done by our owners,’ Bloss says, giving example of the time his owners came to him complaining that there was no national ad campaign. ’I said to them, a campaign would cost a million dollars. If you divide that by the rooms each hotel has, it would mean an increase in the room rent, the fees paid to me,’ he said. It all comes down to a vote where each decision is carried if it has 66 per cent support of the hotels. It’s called a Voice, a Vote.
’I started opening up lines of communication. Created advertising boards, advisory boards, making them (the owners) part of the decision process in the company,’ he adds.
The Vantage Group,-Value Inn Worldwide-and Value Hotel Worldwide and have an-exclusive-master license agreement with Miraya Hotel Management-Pvt. Ltd.
Value Inns & Hotels India will be positioned as 2-4 Star quality hotels,-depending on location, size of the hotel and product for 30 to 65 rooms.- They will primarily be business hotels offering food & beverage and banqueting facilities for weddings and events.
Vantage, which has hotels across the US, Canada, South Korea, Indonesia and Mexico have a an exclusive contract with Miraya to develop its brands in India.
’Miraya was formed in October 2014, we found that Vantage shared our values with the one voice one vote system and decided to sign on with them,’ Sudhir Sinha, (photo right) Managing Director and CEO,-Value Inns & Hotels India, told BW Hotelier in an exclusive interview.
’We are looking at 10 signings this year out of which 50 per cent operational. In five years our target is 100 hotels in 7 years,’ he told us.
’We will do whatever it takes when it comes to develop the brand. We are prepared to fund the company for three years,’ he added.
’The best part of the vantage brand is that they allow the hotels to build the way they want to. There is a minimum quality guideline which has to be maintained, over and above that; it is the hotel owner’s choice. We have a three-page standardisation for Value inns,’ he told us adding that the Value Inn a Voice a Vote concept will be adopted in India once the company reaches critical mass of hotels, around three years from now.
Bikramjit Ray is Executive Editor, BW Hotelier.
