The 1998 Torchbearer Awards were presented during a special ceremony at the Bass Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Conference in New Orleans.  Len Lesko, general manager of the Holiday Inn Youngstown-South accepted the award.

The Holiday Inn Youngstown-South, locally owned and operated by the Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation, is one of only 78 properties chosen from the entire Bass Hotels & Resorts system of more than 2,600 hotels for maintaining the highest standards of excellence in product quality, hotel operations, guest services and profitability. 

This is the sixth Torchbearer Award the hotel has received in the past eight years.  All six Torchbearer trophies, the company�s symbol of excellence, are on permanent display at the hotel and on the hotel�s web site at http://www.hiboardman.com.

�Because of its commitment to overall quality and customer service, it is my privilege to honor the Holiday Inn Youngstown South as one of the best hotels in the business,� said Thomas R. Oliver, chairman and CEO of Bass Hotels & Resorts.  �This hotel has exceeded the highest standards of excellence, and is an example of why our properties are recognized for quality and value around the world.�

Over 2,800 franchise owners and operators, as well as company officials attended Bass Hotels & Resorts 1998 Worldwide Conference in New Orleans, LA.

Holiday Inn Youngstown South (Boardman) Guest Satisfaction Scores Soar to #1 Worldwide

The results of the November Guest Satisfaction Tracking System (GSTS), Bass Hotels & Resorts' official customer satisfaction indicator, report the Holiday Inn Youngstown South with the highest scores out of 1,200 full service Holiday Inn hotels around the world.

Each month, Bass Hotels & Resorts (the parent company of Holiday Inn hotels) mails satisfaction surveys to guests that have stayed in each respective Holiday Inn hotel around the world.  The survey asks the guest to rate their satisfaction with their stay at the hotel in areas such as cleanliness of guest room, service at check-in/check-out, friendliness of staff, quality of bed comfort, quality of food & beverage, and many more.  The Bass Hotels & Resorts corporate office then scores each question based upon a 100 point scale and publishes the results of the survey for each hotel.  These results help each hotel to know what areas they are doing best in, and which need more attention.

The Holiday Inn Boardman, owned and operated by the Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation,  has been experiencing overall GSTS scores in the mid-90's (out of 100) for most of the year, which has earned its ranking within the top 10 scores in the Holiday Inn system.  In November, the hotel earned a perfect 100 score in the areas of Room Cleanliness, Responsive to Needs, and Accuracy of Billing.  The move to the #1 position was a result of these perfect scores and slight improvements in all other rating areas.

"I can't tell you how proud I am to see the hotel achieve this premier position.   The honor goes to the tireless dedication and hard work of our employees as well as the constant support of our ownership� comments Len Lesko, General Manager of the Holiday Inn Boardman.  "We hope to be able to maintain the #1 position by insuring that we consistently exceed our guests expectations in everything that we do during their stay with us."

The results of the GSTS are used in part for the annual Bass Hotels & Resorts' Torchbearer Award selection process.  The Holiday Inn Boardman was 1 of 78 hotels chosen to receive this coveted award in 1998.

The Holiday Inn Youngstown-South is a full-service hotel featuring 118 guest rooms, banquets & meetings to 100 people, and T.J.�s Restaurant and Lounge.  The hotel is currently engaged in an expansion project that will add 15 guest rooms and suites, 7,500 square feet of additional banquet/meeting facilities, and an indoor swimming pool.  The expansion is expected to be completed by May 1999.  Call (330) 726-1611 for information and reservations or visit our WWW site at http://www.hiboardman.com.

Bass Hotels & Resorts, the hotel business of Bass PLC of the United Kingdom, operates or franchises more than 2,600 hotels and 450,000 guest rooms in more than 90 countries and territories.