Hotel Online Special Report
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Leisure Development, L.L.C. Begins Construction 
on Microtel Property in Hutchinson KS
 
ATLANTA (Oct. 9, 1998) - Leisure Development, L.L.C. has broken ground on Kansas' third Microtel Inn & Suites.  Located at 1420 N. Lorraine in Hutchinson, a mid-1999 opening is planned.  There is currently a Microtel open in Olathe and a Microtel under construction in Overland Park. 

"The Hutchinson property is an excellent example of Microtel's growing presence in Kansas," said Mike Leven, president and CEO of Atlanta-based U.S. Franchise Systems, Inc.  (Nasdaq: USFS), owner of the Microtel brand.  Microtel is the fastest growing chain of all newly-constructed, interior corridor, budget hotels in the U.S. 

The Microtel Inn & Suites in Hutchinson will be a three-story, 67-room property.  Single and double accommodations will offer remote cable TV, CNN, ESPN and HBO, along with complimentary morning coffee.  Suites will feature separate sitting areas, refrigerators and wet bars.  The hotel is located one mile from the Hutchinson Municipal Airport and within three miles of Hutchinson Community College, Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center, and the Kansas State Fairgrounds. 

"The Microtel product is right for the needs of today's traveling public,"  said Steven C. Olson, president and CEO of the Leisure Hotels Group of Companies, one of the largest hotel companies in the Midwest. Leisure Hotels, L.L.C., which entered into an alliance with USFS earlier this year, will build Microtel properties in such midwestern states as Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. 

The Hutchinson-based company employs 300 and currently manages 14 hotels and 997 rooms with such well-recognized hotel flags as Hawthorn Suites, Hampton Inn and Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites.  Founded in 1985, the company specializes in the development and management of hotels in the limited-, suite- and full-service market segments of the lodging industry.  In addition to the construction of the Microtel Inn & Suites in Hutchinson, Leisure Development L.L.C. is building a new extended-stay Hawthorn Suites LTD in Columbia, Missouri. 

Leisure Hotels Group of Companies was named among the top 100 owners/developers in the nation in the September 7, 1998 issue of Hotel Business and earlier in the year was ranked as one of the nation's top 150 hotel owner/developers in the 1998 annual edition of "The Green Book."  In January 1998, Leisure Hotels Group of Companies was also named one of the top 60 hotel / management firms in the U.S. by Real Estate Forum in its "Directory of Top Hotel Management Firms." 

As of June 30, 1998, there were 151 Microtels open or under construction and another 360 in development.  For reservations or a copy of the Microtel directory, call 1-888-771-7171 toll-free, or visit Microtel on-line at www.microtelinn.com. 

Based in Atlanta, Ga., U.S. Franchise Systems, Inc. was formed in August 1995 by Mike Leven, a 38-year veteran of the lodging industry, and Neal Aronson, former principal of a New York investment firm, when the company purchased the franchise system rights to Microtel Inn, Microtel Inn & Suites and Microtel Suites.  Traded on the Nasdaq National Market System (symbol USFS), U.S. Franchise Systems acquired the franchise rights to Hawthorn Suites, an extended-stay product, in 1996, and full ownership of the brand in March 1998.  U.S. Franchise Systems also recently acquired the franchise rights to Best Inns & Suites, a mid-level economy brand. 
 
 

Steven C. Olson
President / CEO Leisure Hotel Corporation

Mr. Olson is co-founder and co-owner of Leisure Hotels, L.L.C. A 28-year 
veteran in the hotel industry, Mr. Olson began his hospitality career early 
working in his family's business of owning and operating two convention 
hotels and a 400 room resort complex. After attending the University of 
Minnesota, majoring in business administration, Mr. Olson joined 
Sheraton's extensive management training program. Subsequently, Mr. 
Olson joined Brock Hotel Corporation, which operated more than sixty 
Holiday Inns nationwide. 

During Mr. Olson's tenure with Brock Hotel Corporation, he worked at a variety of hotels ranging in size from 100 to 320 rooms and gained invaluable hands-on experience in both food and beverage and hotel management. Several of those properties received the prestigious 4 Star Mobil Award, the 4 Diamond AAA 
Award and one was noted as one of the top 10 Holiday Inn hotels worldwide. Mr. Olson received many awards for increased sales and profitability from Brock Hotel Corporation. 

In 1985, Mr. Olson teamed up with Wichita entrepreneur Fran Jabara and local businessman Richard Smith to form Leisure Hotels, L.L.C. The partners subsequently pursued hotel ownership and grew the corporation with hotel acquisitions in Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri. Leisure employs more than 300 people and operates its own construction, property management, purchasing and commercial brokerage divisions. Mr. Olson's extensive experience in all facets of the lodging industry, from operational experience to negotiating, financing and developing multi-million dollar hotel and land development projects, well suits him for his position as CEO of this fast-growing company. 
 

 
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Contact:
Shelly Poppelreiter 
U.S. Franchise Systems, Inc.
(316) 663-9800,  Ext 105 
Jessica Ploszaj
Leisure Development, L.L.C.
(404) 235-5780
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Also See:
David Kemp Named Vice President, National Sales at US Franchise Systems / Sept 1998
Microtel Inn Suites to be Developed Throughout Canada / July 1998

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