August 26, 2002 - Like an airboat, powered by proven engineering principles, that skims along the surface of the Florida Everglades and ignores the alligators, MEI Hotels, Inc., a dynamic Midwestern management and real estate company, is driving new hotel construction and rising above the economy.  MEI�s strong first-name business relationships with Midwestern banks, brokers and franchisors, and its dedication to creating a quality product through the proper use of the latest technology are propelling its success.

MEI�s technology advantage helped with the roll out of two new Hilton Garden Inns in Boca Raton, Florida and Fairfax, Virginia in February 2002 when the company installed Execuvue®, an enterprise business intelligence application, at corporate headquarters.  MEI and its business intelligence vendor developed an interface to Hilton�s System/21 property management system that allows MEI�s hotels to send accounting and Kronos payroll data to the head office every night via MEI�s virtual private network.  By 9:00 a.m. the next morning, all MEI�s managers are emailed a PDF report displaying information on night audit revenue, statistics, payroll, and food and beverage covers for each property. 

�Before Execuvue, we used Excel and a pencil and eraser,� said Dale Pelletier, MEI Hotels� CFO and VP of Finance, who began his 25-year hospitality career as a Holiday Inn bellman, and is responsible for introducing Execuvue to MEI�s General Managers.  Pelletier noted that during the opening of a third new hotel in June, the Hilton Garden Inn in Miramar, Florida, Execuvue proved its value again.  �We learned from each other�s successes and mistakes.  For example, the Boca Raton and Miramar properties are only 45 minutes from each other, but Execuvue showed that one hotel had a much higher housekeeping payroll.  The other hotel was doing food and beverage a little better.  So after seeing each other�s reports the GMs got on the phone, went over payroll figures, and traded best practice ideas.  It made both properties stronger.  The managers like the process.  It also creates a little competitive rivalry because each hotel makes its own decisions.�

Pelletier explained that another MEI property with 6,000 square feet of meeting space had banquet revenue that was behind projection.  �Execuvue put it on a graph.  We spotted the shortfall right away and immediately refocused a sales person to handle it.  If you are sitting with 18 separate P&Ls, who has time to make those kinds of decisions?�  He also added that the downloading and uploading of data, and generation of reports is accomplished with no human intervention or re-keying of numbers, making the information more accurate and less costly to gather and analyze.  �It literally takes us minutes to add a new property to our portfolio now,� said Pelletier.

Benefits 

Other benefits to MEI Hotels Inc. from using Execuvue are: 

• The ability to capture market segmentation, such as where business is coming from on Sunday versus Wednesday, to better plan marketing campaigns; 
• Improved investor reporting because property information can be easily broken out by product type, real estate fund, and geographical location.
• Reduced run time for monthly P&L statements for all 18 hotels from one day to less than one hour per month. 

Pelletier sees MEI�s corporate role as providing its hotel mangers with a �big picture� view of their operation and the competitive environment.  �Hotels are a complicated business.  They have new guests every day, a restaurant, bar, banquet catering business, and a maintenance shop.  Each of these department managers is focused on their own separate area, and the GM is focused on the hotel.  We send them reports from Execuvue to help them make better decisions by taking a step back and quickly comparing occupancies and rates to profitability.  �Do you really need to spend that money? Is it necessary to hire that person?�  We are committed to the long-term success of our managers,� Pelletier concluded.

MEI�s emphasis on long-term business relationships is part of the corporate culture created by founder Bert Moyar, who co-partnered the well-known management firm Concord Hotels, Inc. in 1985 before forming Moyar Enterprises Incorporated (MEI), along with his son, David Moyar, in 1995.  MEI owns and operates a portfolio made up of Marriott, Radisson, Hilton, and independent flags.  Until three years ago MEI Hotels Inc. concentrated on ownership and development, then in 1999 the Moyars formed an internal management division to operate the firm�s newest properties.  Respected as a lawyer, humanitarian, hotelier and financier, Moyar maintains solid relationships with local northeastern Ohio banks.  �We are also devoted to the best use of the latest technology, which is why we partnered with Aptech,� explained Dale Pelletier.

�The quality of people Aptech has within its organization, the quality of their technology, and their client list definitely had a lot to do with our decision to align ourselves with them,� Pelletier concluded. 

Aptech Computer Systems, Inc. is known for valuing human relationships and evolving technology offerings as the market dictates, a commitment that has earned the company100% customer loyalty of its 700 users over the last three decades. 

About MEI 

Moyar Enterprises Incorporated (MEI) is based in Cleveland, Ohio.  As an owner, developer, and manager, MEI focuses on three types of hotel investment strategies, in addition to providing third party management and development services:  (1) Development of mid-market, full-service hotels such as Hilton Garden Inns; upper-end limited service hotels such as Marriott Courtyards and Hampton Inns; and upper-end all suite hotels such as Marriott Residence Inns and Hilton Homewood Suites.  (2) Acquisition of performing hotels with stable occupancy rates.  (3) Acquisition, renovation, and repositioning of under performing hotels.  The firm is privately held.