SAN DIEGO, Dec. 1, 2004 - Michael Gallegos, president and CEO of San Diego-headquartered American Property Management Corp. (APMC), has been named a national recipient of the 2004 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for creating in just 14 years one of the nation's largest and fastest-growing independent hotel companies.

Gallegos, who relocated the already thriving company from New Mexico to San Diego in 2000, earned the prestigious national award in the Real Estate/Hospitality/Construction category on Nov. 20.  He qualified for the national honor after being named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in the same category for the Pacific/Southwest region earlier this year.  Both the national competition and the annual regional awards programs recognize the nation most successful and innovative entrepreneurial business leaders.
    
"This award is a tremendous honor and welcome recognition of the talent and hard work of APMC's capable personnel," Gallegos said.  "I accept this on their behalf, because it's their dedication to excellence that made APMC's successes possible."
    
Gallegos co-founded APMC in 1990.  In the 14 years since, the company has acquired 50 hotels and sold six, yielding a more than 100 percent average annual return for investors.
    
Today, APMC focuses on purchasing nonperforming and underperforming hotels and transforming them into successful properties through state-of-the-art financial systems, innovative food and beverage concepts, preventative maintenance, human resources support and creative sales and marketing.  The company's 42 hotels and resorts are located from coast to coast with 11,550 rooms, 5,000 employees, generating more than $350 million in annual revenues.  In addition to a successful network of independent hotels, boutique properties and resorts, APMC's hotel flags include Starwood Luxury Collection, Marriott, Hilton, Sheraton, Radisson, Holiday Inn, AmeriSuites, Ramada, Clarion, Days Inn and Wyndham.
    
Most recently, APMC was ranked 10th of the Top 100 Independent, Third-Party Management Companies in the March 2004 issue of Hotel & Motel Magazine, and the 16th-largest hotel owner in the United States according to Hotel Business magazine rankings.  In the August 2004 issue of National Real Estate Investor magazine, APMC was ranked 10th of the Top 25 Hotel Owners.
    
APMC hotels have received more than 50 top awards from parent franchise companies.  The company's stellar track record earned it the privilege of being the only independent hotel company in the United States approved to manage the five-star Starwood Luxury Collection Hotel and Regent Hotel brands.
    
The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year program is well known for identifying the brightest business stars before they become household names.  More than 360 winners from 35 regions across the United States gathered for the 2004 national Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year(R) awards in Palm Springs on Nov. 20.