SPOKANE, Wash., December 2010 -- The Red Lion Hotels Corporation (NYSE: RLH) franchise development team has signed a franchise license agreement with a hotelier in Concord, CA.  This is the third franchise announced by Red Lion in the past month.

Beginning in January 2011, the Holiday Inn Concord, 1050 Burnett Avenue, will convert to Red Lion Hotel Concord.  Concord is approximately 20 miles northeast of Oakland.

The Red Lion Hotel Concord is a full service hotel with 189 rooms and 5,400 sq ft of meeting space, owned and managed by Elite Concord Group, LLC.

"Red Lion owns and operates hotels, in addition to franchising them, which is something appreciated by franchise owners who have similar types of hotels," said Jon E. Eliassen.  "We offer franchisees a level of service and attention they may not receive with other brands, where they're literally one of a thousand hotels."

"This property is a great addition to the Red Lion brand," said Rich Carlson, Vice President of Lodging Development for Red Lion Hotels Corporation.  "The owners share our vision for the brand and they are anxious to make the conversion.  The Red Lion Hotel Concord further strengthens our presence in Northern California, traditionally a strong market for us."

In November, Red Lion Hotels announced that it had signed two hotel franchise agreements in Northern California that are expected to open as Red Lions in January 2011. The first is located in Rancho Cordova and will become a Red Lion Inn.  The second is located in Oakland and will become the Red Lion Hotel Oakland International Airport.

The RLH franchising team is targeting limited and full-service hotels in 11 Western States and British Columbia for conversion to the Red Lion Hotels brand.