To commemorate the event, Ray Schultz, chairman and chief executive officer of Promus and founder of the Hampton Inn brand, together with Gary Tharaldson of Tharaldson Management Enterprises and representatives of the Houston Challenger Center, cut a special $8,000 money-ribbon, with proceeds going to three Houston-based organizations: the Houston Museum of Natural Science, the Challenger Center, and the educational program, Career Challenger. The funds will help underwrite the participation of approximately 1,000 inner-city sixth graders from the North Forest Independent School District in the Houston Museum of Natural Science's Career Challenger program for the 1999-2000 school year. The ceremony was a re-enactment of the first Hampton Inn grand opening in 1984, when Schultz cut a similar money-ribbon.

"We started the Hampton Inn chain in 1984 to provide guests with a quality room and special amenities like a free continental breakfast and free local phone calls, all at an exceptional value," said Schultz. "The opening of this hotel today tells us that we understood our Guests' needs and that price/value is still a viable concept nearly 15 years later. Hampton Inn has been, and is committed to remaining, the standard against which all mid-priced, limited-service hotel brands are measured."

Hampton Inn revolutionized the hotel industry with the creation of the first national brand targeted to a new hotel segment: "limited service." The hotels featured spacious, comfortable rooms but eliminated or reduced other elements common to hotels at that time, such as restaurants, lounges and meeting and lobby space, passing the resulting cost savings on to guests in the form of lower rates. 

The company pioneered a number of innovative ideas, including the mounting of the first site by a hotel brand on the Internet. In 1989, Hampton Inn became the first national brand to offer guests an unconditional 100% Satisfaction Guarantee, which today is the cornerstone of all Promus brands and a testament to the company's commitment to quality.

Growth of the Hampton Inn brand has continued at one of the highest rates in the industry. After opening the first Hampton Inn in 1984, the system expanded to 100 properties by 1986. The chain doubled to 200 properties by 1989 and doubled again to 400 in 1994. The brand expanded outside the U.S. in 1993 with its first hotel in Canada and today is located in 49 states and seven countries. With its consistently high guest ratings, the Hampton Inn brand has been cited by many independent surveys: the brand was named the 1998 

"Best Mid-priced Hotel Chain" by Entrepreneur and the 1998 "Number One Economy Chain" by Business Travel News for an unprecedented sixth time in the past nine years.

The 76-room Hampton Inn-Houston Willowbrook Mall maintains much of the original design of the first Hampton Inn, but is different in many ways. The three-story, stucco building has a similar profile and rooms feature spacious accommodations appointed with iron and ironing board, free local phone calls and continental breakfast.

The property is owned by Heritage Inn Number LIV Limited Partnership and managed under contract by Tharaldson Property Management, Inc. The company manages 39 other Promus Hotel properties, including two in Houston.

Hampton Inn has been a supporter of the Challenger Center since it was created in 1988. The Challenger Learning Center was built as a living memorial to the Challenger space shuttle crew who perished when their rocket exploded after lift-off. Following the tragedy, the Houston Museum of Natural Science made a special commitment to keep their space mission alive by educating children about the value of teamwork and the importance of space exploration.

"This is a deserving cause that reaches thousands of children worldwide," noted Schultz, a former fighter pilot. "Promus is proud to donate this special money-ribbon to further the education of these young students and teach them of the many career opportunities available to them."

The Challenger Center provides innovative teaching and educational experiences and encourages teamwork that inspires and prepares students for the technological demands of the future. Since serving as a prototype for Challenger Center's national program in 1988, the Houston Museum of Natural Science Challenger Learning Center has been replicated 29 times across the U.S. and Canada, with additional plans for 12 more centers to open in 1999.

The Houston Museum of Natural Science, a private non-profit organization, is located in Hermann Park across from Miller Outdoor Theatre. The Museum is open Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission to the Museum is free to members, $4 for non-member adults and $2 for non-member children under 12 years old. For more information, call (713) 639-4629.

All Hampton Inn hotels provide such amenities as a complimentary breakfast bar offered daily in the lobby, free local calls, swimming pools and state-of-the-art hospitality suites. All guest rooms are equipped with a coffee maker, iron and ironing board and data ports. Children 18 and under, or a third or fourth adult, stay free when sharing rooms.

Promus Hotel Corporation (NYSE:PRH) is one of the world's premier lodging companies, with systemwide annual revenues of over $5 billion. The company operates, franchises or owns 1,275 hotels with more than 186,000 rooms throughout the United States and in Canada, Mexico and Latin America. It is the franchisor and operator of the Doubletree Hotels and Guest Suites, Embassy Suites, Homewood Suites, Club Hotels by Doubletree, Hampton Inn, Hampton Inn Suites, Embassy Vacation Resort and Hampton Vacation Resorts brands. The company also manages non-Promus branded hotels and 16 facilities in its University Hotel Conference Center division.