Lunch or dinner in Florida with Steve J. Belmonte, CEO of Vimana Franchise Systems, LLC, owner of Centerstone Hotels and Key West Inns.

Since becoming the youngest general manager in the history of Holiday Inn at the age of 18 and later buying the hotel he started at, to holding the title of longest-standing president of a national franchised hotel chain while at the helm of the Ramada hotel chain, Mr. Belmonte brings new meaning to the phrase "from the mailroom to the boardroom."

In 2002, Mr. Belmonte returned to his entrepreneurial roots and launched Hospitality Solutions LLC, a full-service, nationwide consultation firm specializing in lodging industry issues at the hotel and corporate level. Drawing on more than 35 years of experience and key contacts both inside and outside of the industry, Hospitality Solutions was specifically designed to offer franchise negotiation services for hotel, restaurant, and quick service restaurant owners nationwide.

In 2011, Mr. Belmonte launched Vimana Franchise Systems, a hotel franchising company with the brands Centerstone Inns, Hotels and Plaza Hotels and Key West Inns, Hotels, and Resorts. Mr. Belmonte, who is Vimana's co-founder and CEO, wanted to create a fair franchising model with both brands offering one of the lowest fee structures in the industry, short-term agreements, and more. While Centerstone was launched as a new brand, Key West was an already established brand reinvented as a fun and uniquely themed leisure brand.