Holiday Inn-Tampa Re-opens Resort After $12 Million Renovation

Business Wire, March 5, 1999

TAMPA, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 5, 1999--After a comprehensive $12 million, five-month renovation, Holiday Inn-Tampa (Near Busch Gardens) has opened its doors as a like-new 12-acre resort.

With its proximity to major business areas as well as tourist destinations, the hotel will attract both corporate groups and leisure travelers.

The hotel's 5,400 square feet of meeting space received a total makeover, as did the bar, lounge and restaurant areas. Supplementing the hotel's existing TGI Friday's restaurant is the newly constructed Market Place Cafe with a pool-side bar. The new restaurant will serve a hot breakfast buffet, as well as light lunch and dinner menus.

For family travelers, a new outdoor water attraction features a pirate ship with slides and water cannons. An exercise facility also has been added to the property, as well as an electronic game space.

The hotel's 408 guest rooms were remodeled from floor to ceiling in colorful tropical themes. Twenty-five guest rooms feature KidsSuites(SM), which are themed fun rooms within guest rooms geared for family travel. Kidsuites(SM) are outfitted with single or bunk beds with reading lights, kid-size furniture, a private television and VCR, videogames and a Fun Phone.

"With these dramatic upgrades, we will offer an enjoyable resort atmosphere for all of our guests, as well as the location and amenities to meet the needs of business travelers," said John Moors, the hotel's general manager.

Holiday Inn-Tampa (Near Busch Gardens), at 2701 E. Fowler Avenue, is located near corporate parks, the University of South Florida, medical centers and Busch Gardens. The hotel's renovation is part of Bass Hotels & Resorts' $1.5 billion modernization program of all Holiday Inns nationwide. Initiated in 1994, the program provides for upgrades and renovations to exteriors, public areas and guest rooms. The program is a "rolling" initiative, which effectively will rejuvenate the Holiday Inn system every seven years.

Holiday Inn-Tampa (Near Busch Gardens) is operated by Dallas-based Bristol Hotels & Resorts (NYSE:BH) and owned by FelCor Lodging Limited Partnership, a subsidiary of FelCor Lodging Trust Incorporated (NYSE:FCH).

Bristol is the largest independent hotel operating company in the United States and operates the largest number of Bass Hotels & Resorts branded hotels in the world. Bristol's nearly 120 hotels include over 31,000 rooms in 26 states, the District of Columbia and Canada.

The company's hotels operate primarily in the mid-priced to upscale segments of the industry and are located in 19 of the top 25 lodging markets in the United States. Bristol operates nearly 90 Crowne Plaza(R) and Holiday Inn properties and is a leading franchisee in Bass' $1.5 billion modernization program. By 2000, Bristol will have overseen the investment of $400 million in the redevelopment of Holiday Inn hotels. For more information, visit the company's web site at www.bristolhotels.com.