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High Point, North Carolina's Largest Hotel to Drop Radisson Name;
252 room Hotel Opened as a Radisson 25 Years Ago

By Paul B. Johnson, High Point Enterprise, N.C.McClatchy-Tribune Regional News

Dec. 19, 2008 - HIGH POINT -- The city's largest hotel has been known as the Radisson since it opened with fanfare 25 years ago.

But come Dec. 30, the owners of the hotel will break with the Radisson brand name as they search for a new affiliation. A new brand name should be announced during the first part of next year.

The property will adopt the interim name of Hotel High Point while it searches for a new affiliation, said General Manager Juan Ingram.

"We anticipate our new identity to be released by no later than June 1, 2009," said Ingram, who added that the ownership of the hotel won't change.

Westmont Hospitality Group Inc., which has its U.S. headquarters in Houston, has owned the hotel since March 2007.

Ingram said Westmont will launch upgrades and other changes after Dec. 30 in preparation for the new brand name. Westmont has consulted with several companies as the new brand for the hotel, including Hilton Hotels, Best Western, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts and Choice Hotels International, which include brands such as Comfort Inn and Suites, Quality Inn and Clarion.

"This transition gives them a better time to find out what's best for this property," Ingram said Thursday.

Westmont initiated the move to end the Radisson affiliation, he said.

"The Radisson flag wasn't producing enough business and revenue for our hotel, and we wanted to look at other options," Ingram said.

A corporate representative with Radisson couldn't be reached for comment by The High Point Enterprise on Thursday.

The hotel has been associated with the Radisson brand since its opening in 1983, though it has gone through at least six ownership changes.

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To see more of the High Point Enterprise, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.hpe.com.

Copyright (c) 2008, High Point Enterprise, N.C.

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