15 Embassy Suites Hotels Earn Top Quality Assurance and Customer Satisfaction Scores in Brand's Balanced Scorecard Results for Year 2000.

Business & Travel Editors

MEMPHIS, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 20, 2001

As part of the Balanced Scorecard program to measure quality assurance and customer satisfaction at Embassy Suites Hotels(R), 15 Embassy Suites Hotels earned the highest scores among all 142 participating properties for the year 2000.

"While all of the Embassy Suites Hotels continually provide excellent service and product and are committed to exceeding our guests' expectations on a consistent basis, we are delighted to recognize the 15 hotels that have achieved outstanding performance among their peers for the year 2000," said Mark Snyder, senior vice president-brand management for Embassy Suites Hotels.

"These top-performing Embassy Suites Hotels serve as outstanding examples for all of our hotels."

The top-performing Embassy Suites Hotels were:

1. Palm Beach Gardens-PGA Blvd. (Fla.)

2. Portland-Downtown (Ore.)

3. Dallas-DFW International Airport at Outdoor World (Texas)

4. Austin-Arboretum (Texas)

5. Dallas-Near the Galleria (Texas)

6. Houston-Near the Galleria (Texas)

7. Charleston (W.Va.)

8. Raleigh-Durham (N.C.)

9. San Juan Hotel & Casino-International Airport (Puerto Rico)

10. Greenville Golf Resort and Conference Center (S.C.)

11. Napa Valley (Calif.)

12. Omaha-Downtown/Old Market (Neb.)

13. Los Angeles-Downey (Calif.)

14. Orlando-Airport (Fla.)

15. Lompoc-Central Coast (Calif.)

Each hotel will receive a trophy and recognition at specially planned celebratory receptions later this year.

Two key areas graded for the Balanced Scorecard rating system within Embassy Suites Hotels are quality assurance and customer satisfaction ratings.

Quality Assurance

To assess quality assurance at each Embassy Suites Hotel, the internal Quality Assurance Team for the Embassy Suites Hotels' brand evaluates each property throughout the year on one announced and one unannounced visit. Every area of the hotel is graded, including guest rooms, public areas, "back-of-the-house" kitchens and parking lots.

The overall score for each property's Balanced Scorecard measurement is derived from an average of the property's ratings for the year. These ratings are: Outstanding (100), Acceptable (50) and Unacceptable (0). (For example, if a property received "Acceptable" once and "Outstanding" once, that property's average score would be 75 for the year.)

Customer Satisfaction

Customer satisfaction scores are derived from a Guest Satisfaction Rating System (GSRS) in the form of surveys that are sent out to customers from an outside survey company. The company randomly selects past Embassy Suites Hotel customers shortly after their stays. The past guests are asked to rate various aspects of their experience at that hotel, from reservations to checkout, breakfast to dinner, and overall service and product.

Background

Embassy Suites Hotels, in 1983, was the first all-suite upscale hotel brand to enter the industry and today has more than 150 hotels. Each Embassy Suites Hotel offers spacious, two-room suites that include a separate living area with a sofa bed, private bedroom and bath, televisions in each room, a wet bar, refrigerator, microwave oven, and work desk with amenities like high-speed Internet access at many hotels and voice mail.

In addition, all Embassy Suites Hotels offer a complimentary, cooked-to-order breakfast each morning and a two-hour nightly manager's reception, popular with both business and leisure travelers. Other standard amenities include an indoor swimming pool, a health club and an on-site restaurant.

To make reservations at an Embassy Suites Hotel in resort and destination areas, travelers can call 800/EMBASSY or visit the Embassy Suites Hotels Web site at www.embassysuites.com. Embassy Suites Hotels participates in the Hilton HHonors(R) guest reward program that allows its members to Double Dip(R) by simultaneously earning both hotel points and airline miles with each qualifying stay.

Embassy Suites Hotels is part of Hilton Hotels Corp., which is recognized internationally as a pre-eminent hospitality company. The company develops, owns, manages or franchises approximately 1,900 hotels, resorts and vacation-ownership properties. Its portfolio includes many of the world's best-known and most highly regarded hotel brands, including Hilton, Conrad, Doubletree, Embassy Suites Hotels, Hampton Inn, Hampton Inn & Suites, Harrison Conference Centers, Hilton Garden Inn, Hilton Grand Vacations Company, Homewood Suites by Hilton and Red Lion Hotels & Inns.

Note to Editors: The following service marks are owned by Hilton Hospitality Inc.: Hilton(R), Hilton Garden Inn(R), Doubletree(R), Embassy Suites Hotels(R), Hampton Inn(R), Hampton Inn & Suites(R), Homewood Suites(R) by Hilton, Red Lion Hotels & Inns(R), Hilton Grand Vacations Company(R) and Conrad(TM). HHonors(R) and Double Dip(R) are trademarks owned by Hilton HHonors Worldwide LLC.