Bass Hotels & Resorts: The Industry's Most Global Hotel Company Offers Investors a World of Franchising Opportunities

Every year, more than 150 million travelers find a warm welcome at a hotel or resort bearing one of Bass Hotels & Resorts' internationally recognized lodging brands: Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites by Holiday Inn, Inter-Continental and Crowne Plaza. Bass Hotels & Resorts is the hotel business of Bass PLC of the United Kingdom.

With more than 2,700 hotels and 450,000 guest rooms in more than 90 countries and territories, Bass Hotels & Resorts truly is the world's most global hotel company. The company's targeted brands offer a variety of services, amenities and lodging experiences catering to virtually every travel occasion and guest need. For investors, that translates into a wealth of franchising opportunities.

Currently, Bass Hotels & Resorts offers franchising opportunities with the following targeted brands:

• Holiday Inn -- An American icon for travelers for nearly five decades, Holiday Inn is one of the hospitality industry's most successful and well-known full-service brands. Today's business and leisure travelers turn to Holiday Inn for dependability, friendly service and attractive, modern facilities at an excellent value. And Bass Hotels & Resorts is taking the brand to the next level, conducting an on-going quality initiative that is rapidly positioning Holiday Inn for the year 2000 and beyond.
• Holiday Inn Express -- Recognized as the fastest-growing brand in the midscale hotel segment, Holiday Inn Express is the modern hotel for value-oriented travelers. Launched in 1991, Holiday Inn Express has already opened 1,000 hotels worldwide and reached over $1 billion in sales. Express has quickly struck a chord with travelers, who appreciate the brand's straightforward, no-frills approach. Guests who stay at Express properties enjoy comfortable, reasonably priced rooms; a free breakfast bar; and free local phone calls (U.S. only).
• Staybridge Suites by Holiday Inn -- Bass Hotels & Resorts' newest brand, Staybridge Suites was launched in 1997 and represents the company's entry into the extended-stay segment. Staybridge properties offer studios and one- and two-bedroom layouts, all with functional work areas that feature high-speed Internet access, two phone lines with voice mail and direct-dial access, and fully equipped kitchens. Guests enjoy a complimentary breakfast buffet, on-site 24-hour convenience store, free self-service laundry, exercise room, business center and library.

As an individual Bass Hotels & Resorts entrepreneur, you're in business for yourself, but you're not alone. You can count on Bass Hotels & Resorts to provide extensive resources, from technology to marketing, advertising and training support, that will help your investment grow.

Leading the way in technology is the company's Property Based System (PBS), an integrated hardware and software system designed to promote competitiveness and profitability through applied technology. It combines the power of three tremendous resources:

• The Holiday Inn Reservation Optimizer (HIRO) system, an automated tool that maximizes hotel room revenues by instantly reacting to shifts in demand conditions, accurately forecasting future business, and keeping close tabs on room inventory levels.
• The Property Management System, the company's front-desk system that provides basic hotel management functions as well as a two-way interface with the company's reservations system.
• HOLIDEX, an advanced computer reservation system, which manages calls to the company's toll-free reservation number, 1-800-HOLIDAY. HOLIDEX books and delivers approximately 30% of the total annual occupancy of the Bass Hotels & Resorts system-more than 20 million room nights per year, and over $1 billion in yearly revenues. It also connects Bass directly to travel intermediaries.

Bass Hotels & Resorts helps drive guest awareness and loyalty through national and local advertising, targeted promotions, and its frequent-stay program, Priority Club Worldwide. Franchisees receive hands-on support to help implement those marketing programs at the local level.

The company currently commits approximately $200 million annually on a worldwide basis to keep its brand names in the public eye. The result? Bass Hotels & Resorts enjoys a top-of-mind awareness level three times greater than any other chain.

What can franchisees expect from this major advertising effort? A lot. Staff expertise and direct-marketing know-how. Advanced technology tools plus extensive research and analysis experience and capabilities. The largest global frequency program in the industry. Local, hands-on support to help you plan and execute marketing and advertising programs. City and regional cooperative marketing, and national programs. Strong relationships with tour operators all over the world. And a Worldwide Sales force that calls on the top 500 global business and leisure accounts.

The Priority Club Worldwide frequent-guest program is a highly successful business-building tool for Bass Hotels & Resorts. Introduced in 1983, it was among the first customer loyalty programs in the hotel industry. Today, it has more than 8 million members, who generate approximately 15% of our brands' yearly occupancy. And Bass assists franchisees in targeting Priority Club members through direct marketing.

Bass Hotels & Resorts works closely with franchisees to ensure they have the right tools to create local advertising and marketing programs. Every franchise receives the Admaker Plus, a specific advertising resource designed to assist with advertising, public relations and promotional efforts.

Additionally, a Marketing Resource Guide is published twice a year to help franchisees choose the marketing programs best suited to their specific hotel. They also receive the management and training tools necessary to help them take advantage of marketing support and programs available through Bass Hotels & Resorts.

From the moment you contact Bass Hotels & Resorts about a franchise, the company's powerful resources come together with a comprehensive hotel support team-a team dedicated to supporting your project.

Every hotel that enters the Bass Hotels & Resorts system is assigned a Field Manager, located at the regional level, who functions as an on-site consultant in revenue issues, service considerations, marketing analysis, training tools, operational policies, and other strategic essentials. The Field Manager typically provides management training at the hotel level, and conducts follow-up on all action plans developed for the hotel.

Each hotel also has its own Atlanta-based Franchise Service Manager (FSM), who can be reached 24 hours a day by calling a special toll-free number. The FSM can quickly answer questions regarding procedures, systems and services. In short, the FSM functions as an in-house liaison between the franchisee and corporate headquarters. Together, the FSM and Field Manager provide around-the-clock-response to any issue that arises in the day-to-day operation of the hotels.

Franchisees also benefit from Bass Hotels & Resorts' Guest Satisfaction Tracking System, which measures and tracks key product and service attributes directly related to guest satisfaction and retention at your hotel.

Finally, BHR Capital can assist you in finding a source for your financing needs. Our subsidiary offers programs to qualified franchisees for new development, refurbishment, and leasing packages that are tailored to your specific situation, a task made simpler by the fact that financing is more easily obtained with a well-known company like Bass Hotels & Resorts.

For more information on franchise opportunities, contact: Brown Kessler, vice president, Franchise Sales and Development, Bass Hotels & Resorts, Three Ravinia Drive, Suite 2900, Atlanta, GA 30346; 770-604-2000.

Information is also available online at the following websites: www.basshotels.com for company information, www.holiday-inn.com for Holiday Inn Hotels and Resorts, www.hiexpress.com for Holiday Inn Express hotels, www.crowneplaza.com for Crowne Plaza Hotels and Resorts, www.interconti.com for Inter-Continental Hotels and Resorts, and www.staybridge.com for the company's newest brand, Staybridge Suites by Holiday Inn.