All new Wingate Inn & Suites hotels will feature a 30% minimum room inventory of spacious suites to go along with all the standard Wingate Inn amenities and public space that consumers have come to expect.  That means travelers will have all the customary high-tech and family-friendly amenities, as well as more space to complete work or just relax with a spouse or the family.

"We launched the Wingate Inn brand with a commitment to meet the ever-changing needs of business and leisure travelers," explains Keith J.  Pierce, president and CEO of Wingate Inns International.  "Adding the Wingate Inn & Suites product sustains that commitment as we're seeing a consistent increase in family and leisure business, as well as travelers just requesting suites.  Having a product with a 30 percent minimum suite inventory will fulfill the requirements of these travelers while giving all travelers another room option when making reservations."

Along with standard Wingate Inn guestrooms, which are already 17 percent larger than typical hotel rooms, Wingate Inn & Suites properties will feature 2-room suites that have a minimum of 552 square feet of living space.  Of course, the suites will also contain all the standard Wingate Inn guestroom amenities such as oversized work desks with executive chairs, recliners or lounge chairs with ottomans, microwave ovens and refrigerators, and a host of others.

As for franchise development, the brand needed a hotel product better suited for leisure growth opportunities.  "Our growth strategy will continue revolving around primary and secondary corporate profile markets," explains Anthony Falor, senior vice president of franchise development for Wingate Inns International, "but Wingate Inn & Suites now gives us an outstanding product for strong leisure demand markets, particularly areas surrounding resorts and amusement parks.  As a matter of fact, we've already signed several franchise agreements and expect the first Wingate Inn & Suites hotel to open next year in a suburb of Cincinnati, OH."

Pierce concludes, "There's obvious franchise development interest, as well as consumer interest and demand.  The launch of Wingate Inn & Suites should give the brand another significant boost in national visibility.  It's a product extension that keeps Wingate Inns well positioned in today's marketplace, as well as for the future."

Wingate Inns International is an all-new construction hotel chain that opened its first franchised hotel in July 1996.  Its focused service, upper mid-market franchised hotels feature sophisticated, consumer-based enabling technology and comfortable, oversized rooms that were created in response to business travelers' needs.   All Wingate Inn hotels are independently owned and operated under franchise agreements.