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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.
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David Kemp Named Vice President, National Sales at US Franchise Systems / Sept 1998 |
Microtel Inn Suites to be Developed Throughout Canada / July 1998 |