Vib, was a high-end and mid-range boutique brand owned by Best Western Hotels & Resorts, which was created in late 2014, and this year will be relaunched. As of early 2022, only three Vib properties were open. Although initially thought of as a North American urban brand (New York or Chicago), the original location target included Springfield, Missouri; Antalya, Turkey; and Bangkok, Thailand. Hence, the brand’s expansion plans extended beyond North America. Subsequently, Covid slowed any momentum that was developing, however, considering that the brand had already been in existence for five years before the pandemic hit, Best Western decided to redesign a new prototype more aligned with the taste of guests and developers. Updated brand standards include flexible lobby space, guest rooms approximately 20% larger, rooftop lounge where possible.

According to Ron Pohl, Vice President and Chief Operations Officer at Best Western Hotels & Resorts, “The new Vīb prototype is designed for densely populated urban and suburban areas.” Vib’s pipeline includes 10 properties in destinations ranging from Cape Town and Crete to Denver, Chicago, Oklahoma City and Miami. BWH will support the expansion of the brand through financial incentives for developers. Best Western has 18 brands so far, many of which are relatively new.

In addition to Vib, there’s GLo, a mid-range new build brand for secondary cities, introduced in 2015, and Aidan and Sadie, boutique brands introduced in 2018 designed for urban conversions. There are a total of 175 hotels in the BWH network in Italy, including operational and pipeline facilities, while there are over 12,000 rooms.