Leisure Hotels teams with African-American church on MO hotel

St. Louis Daily Record & St. Louis Countian, Dec 17, 2004 by St. Louis Daily Record Staff

Leisure Group of Cos. President and CEO Steve Olson joined other VIPs in donning hard hats and digging with shovels to break ground Nov. 9 for the new Wingate Inn®) hotel in Weldon Springs, Mo., a property to be managed by Leisure Hotels & Resorts.

Located at 18 Research Park Circle on the University of Missouri's Missouri Research Park campus, the 100-room property is scheduled to open by the second quarter of 2005. Owned by the members of the Fifth Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, through Inn at Missouri Bluffs, L.L.L.P., it is the first Wingate Inn® hotel to be owned exclusively by African-American members of a single church.

Steve Olson is very proud to be a part of this exciting endeavor. Not only are we especially pleased to add this new property to our management portfolio, but we are thrilled to be a significant part of the successful economic development efforts at the University of Missouri's Missouri Research Park, said Olson in a statement.

I applaud the efforts of the University of Missouri Office of Economic Development and Research Parks and believe in these kinds of efforts to develop and sustain research and technological advances, he added. We're very proud to be involved with this kind of focused and sophisticated economic development effort especially given its breakthrough minority ownership.

The hotel will feature a 24-hour business center, fitness facilities, indoor pool, whirlpool, conference room to seat up to 200 people and a 100 percent satisfaction guarantee. Every room will be equipped with consumer-friendly amenities including a two-line speakerphone, large desk, coffee maker, hair dryer, iron and ironing board, in-room safe, pay-per-view movies, and free wired and wireless high-speed Internet access.

The Wingate Inn chain has been ranked first in the mid-scale, limited-service segment and third among all brands in North America by JD Power and Associates in 2004; Wingate Inns International is franchised by Cendant Hotel Group. Leisure Hotels & Resorts is a third-party management group that operates as a division of Kansas- based Leisure Group of Cos., which specializes in hotel and convention center development, construction management, brokerage services and hotel management in the resort, extended-stay and full- service markets.

Employing more than 800 people, Leisure is one of the industry's fastest-growing, multifaceted, full-service hotel companies in the United States, with corporate offices in the Kansas City metro area and in Hutchinson, Kan. Using the latest in technological developments, Leisure Hotels & Resorts provides hotels with complete operational and financial services as well as extensive human resource training and development. Leisure is consistently recognized among the top owners/developers and management companies in the nation by leading industry publications.

Leisure Hotels L.L.C. manages 24 hotels in Kansas, Colorado, Iowa, Missouri, New Mexico and Texas. It operates a variety of well-known franchise-branded hotels from Intercontinental Hotels, Hilton Hotels and US Franchise Systems. Additional Leisure managed properties are set to open in Colorado, Minnesota and Texas this year. For additional information about the Leisure Group of Cos. and its services, visit the company's Web site at http:// www.leisurehotel.com or contact the company directly at 913-905- 1460.