Vantage Hospitality Named to INC. 500 List of Fastest-Growing Companies

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla., Inc. magazine added Vantage Hospitality, the 12th largest hotel company worldwide, to its INC. 500 list of fastest-growing private companies.

Posting a revenue growth of over 307 percent between 2002 and 2005, Vantage is the only hotel company featured on the prominent list and is ranked 492. Former honorees of this prestigious list include Microsoft, Timberland, and Dominos pizza.

"The INC. 500 list is an icon of the American entrepreneurial spirit, and we are honored to be a part of it," said Roger Bloss, CEO and Founder of Vantage Hospitality. "My six partners and I launched Vantage Hospitality in 1999 with the goal of providing hotel owners with an affordable alternative to franchising. In just seven short years of operation, we have expanded our first hotel brand, Americas Best Value Inn, from two to over 650 properties throughout North America and have recently expanded into China."

Vantage premiered its upper-mid to upscale hotel, The Lexington Collection, in the second quarter of 2006. Already, the brand has 12 hotels open or under contract.

The seven original partners of Vantage are still together and continue to manage the day-to-day operations of the company -- another rarity in the lodging industry. Under Bloss' unique Freestyle Membership Model, the company provides hotel owners with low, flat monthly fees based on number of rooms not revenue, short-term renewable contracts, no liquidated damages, and a voice and vote in the brand's policies through a member-lead advisory board and advertising council. These innovative philosophies have served as the foundation for Vantage's exceptional growth.

The 2006 Inc. 500 list measures revenue growth from 2002 through 2005. To qualify, companies had to be U.S. based, privately held independent -- not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies -- as of December 31, 2005, and have at least $600,000 in net sales in the base year.

Vantage's brand, Americas Best Value Inn was recognized as the Fastest Growing Hotel Chain in America in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. It won the National Chain Leadership Award in 2003, 2005 and 2006. The overall average system ROI was 629 percent in 2005.