The Best Western hotel consortium is hoping to attract more of Britain's upmarket hotels to its stable by launching a new tier.
About 50 of its existing members in Europe have already upgraded to Best Western Premier status.
Richard Coates, director of marketing and strategic planning for the UK arm, said that the group has been working hard for the past two years to sell the brand as hotels of individual character with consistent standards.
He added that the logo created for the new tier should take that marketing push a step further.
"Best Western Premier identifies the top tier of hotels within the group to consumers, and will also help us recruit good-quality independent hotels," said Coates.
He expects there to be eight to 10 Premier properties in the UK in the first year, rising in time to about 10% of the total membership of 320. Eventually, he expects the new tier to be adopted by the consortium's worldwide network, which has more than 4,000 hotels.
To qualify for Premier status, hotels must score at least 880 points in the annual quality assurance inspection and offer 20 services from a "must have" list. These include a minibar, leisure facilities, Continental breakfasts, cable or satellite TV, and laundry services. They must also provide another seven from a pick-list of 12 amenities.
Hotels will have to pay an initial £1,600 for the evaluation for the upgrade. If needed, an evaluation review would add another £700, while a full re-evaluation to ensure essential improvements have been made will cost a further £1,000.
Best Western's existing Connoisseur status, which involves 90 UK hotels but is only marketed domestically because it is based on AA gradings, will run in parallel with the Premier tier until 2006. After that, it is likely to be phased out.
By Angela Frewin