CHICAGO (August 10, 2005) – Following the acquisition of the AmeriSuites hotel chain in early January 2005, senior executives and design teams at Global Hyatt Corp. along with industry leading architects, interior designers and brand consultants set out to accomplish specific objectives to revitalize the chain and to launch a new leading edge hotel concept in the upscale select service segment.
As the first step in rolling out Hyatt’s new entry into the select service segment, Global Hyatt Corp. has chosen the brand name Hyatt Place for its system of hotels.
According to Jim Abrahamson, senior vice president of Hyatt Corporation, the new Hyatt Place brand features a strong focus on an exciting new interior and exterior design and forward thinking technology that incorporates many new and unique applications of sensory branding into its hotels.
The Hyatt design team is finalizing the select service new build prototype and the plans to retrofit, reimage and rebrand all qualifying AmeriSuites hotels under the Hyatt Place flag.
Renovation and repositioning of AmeriSuites hotels is slated to begin in the fourth quarter of 2005, with rebranding of qualified AmeriSuites corporate and franchised hotels due for completion in late 2006.
Following the completion of focus groups with leading select service hotel developers and the AmeriSuites franchise advisory group, Hyatt plans to announce further details of the Hyatt Place brand and formally unveil its prototype and concept at its AmeriSuites franchise owners’ meeting September 25-26 in Scottsdale, Ariz. and to the hotel industry at The Lodging Conference, scheduled for September 27-30 in Phoenix.
About Global Hyatt
There are 212 hotels and resorts (over 90,000 rooms) in 43 countries around the world, operating under the HyattÒ, Hyatt RegencyÒ, Grand HyattÒ and Park HyattÒ brands. Currently, there are an additional 27 Hyatt hotels and resorts under development, including 10 new hotels in China. Hyatt Corporation (domestic U.S., Canada and Caribbean hotels) and Hyatt International Corporation (international properties) are subsidiaries of Chicago-based Global Hyatt Corporation. Global Hyatt Corporation is also the owner of Hyatt Vacation Club, Inc. (timeshare), Hyatt Equities, L.L.C. (hotel ownership), and U.S. Franchise Systems, Inc. (which franchises Hawthorn Suites, Microtel and Best Inns).
In January 2005, Global Hyatt Corporation also added an additional 143 U.S. properties to its growing portfolio with the acquisition of the upscale, limited service AmeriSuites hotel chain. These properties will be retrofitted and repositioned under Hyatt’s new Select Service Group brand, Hyatt Place, beginning in late 2005.
From the U.S. and Canada, reservations for any Hyatt hotel worldwide may be obtained by calling 1-800-233-1234 or logging onto www.hyatt.com.
CONTACT:
Katie Meyer
VP, Corporate Communications
(312) 780 5711
kmeyer@corphq.hyatt.com