COSTA RICA—The Costa Rican national tourism department approached Oriens Travel & Hotel Management Corp. last year about figuring out a way to make this Central American nation a more appealing destination to a largely untapped U.S. vacation market. Like many areas of Central and South America, Costa Rica has its share of high-end resorts but has relatively few internationally recognizable mid-scale or budget hotel brands, making it a tough sell to brand-conscious American travelers.

What Costa Rica has plenty of, though, are mom-and-pop motels and small independent hotels. Oriens is leveraging that country’s existing underused room inventory to launch a conversion budget boutique brand, Hotel Pure, catering specifically to eco-tourists and middle-class Americans who want to explore new locales in comfort, without paying exorbitant prices.

“The average traveler wants to vacation in an exotic country but doesn’t necessarily want to pay the rate of a Holiday Inn, InterContinental, Marriott, etc.,” says Ken Chua, president and CEO of Las Vegas-based Oriens. “Our model is aimed to cost US$45 to US$75 per day. With the U.S. in talks of going into a recession, I believe we are in good position to appeal to American travelers.”

Oriens settled on the Pure name because it is simple, inviting and easy for Americans to remember. Pure, which operates on a franchise structure with centralized marketing, offers three incarnations. Hotel Pure Express will comprise the bulk of the brand’s Central and South American inventory, emphasizing cleanliness and a welcoming atmosphere. Pure B&B is the flag for properties of 20 rooms or less, but aside from the smaller size, B&B will differ little from Express.

The brand’s third flag is Hotel Pure, to be attached to properties of 60 rooms or more, and to be found primarily in China. Although Pure was initially conceived as a brand for South America, Chua believes the format is equally suited for Asia, and China specifically. The China launch of Pure is set for mid-year, and as many as 30 properties may open by year’s end, mostly in the Beijing and Shanghai markets. Pure properties in China, which will be state-owned but managed by Oriens, will fall into the 3-star category.

Chua has great optimism about Pure’s ability to grow quickly. In addition to the 30 China properties in the pipeline, he expects to have 35 hotels open in Central and South America by the year’s end. Besides Costa Rica, Oriens is in talks for Pure properties in Nicaragua, Panama and Argentina, and the company is wide open to other locations.

“Anywhere we can find that is convenient—we’re not looking at any particular location type,” Chua says. “We’re looking to organize a fragmented mid-to-lower-end hotel sector in developing countries. Look at us as the Best Western of 30 years ago.”

Pure properties feature a minimalist design, partly due to their downscale nature but also to invoke a postmodern aesthetic—white is the hotels’ dominant hue, playing off a bare bones South Beach vibe. Pure is likewise light on amenities, offering little beyond free breakfast and attentive service.

All guestrooms are a cozy 220 sq. ft. (20 sq. m), equipped with a bed, a television and phones. “All the usual stuff—except you don’t get carpeting. They are all hardwood floors,” Chua says. “We’re keeping it as simple as possible.”

Most Pure properties will not have much in the way of F&B options beyond a complimentary continental breakfast. With average room rates settling around US$60, Chua figures guests won’t mind too much.

To reach its target market of American budget travelers, Oriens has struck cross-marketing deals with a trio of discount carriers—Frontier Airlines, Continental Airlines and Spirit Airlines. All three are featuring Pure in articles in their onboard magazines, along with travel packages available for booking on their respective Web sites.

Otherwise, Oriens is largely relying on word of mouth and tourism conventions to alert travelers to Pure, as the company is avoiding most of the major third-party booking sites, although it is making Pure available via Oriens’ own online discount travel outlet, 128trip.com.

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