Saint Louis Hotel News March 2004 St. Louis Hotels Guide www.hotels-stl.com St. Louis Hotels Guide is a complete resource of hotels listed by area for your convenience. Please call ahead to confirm information or for reservations. St. Louis Hotel News spotlight on development and events at area hotels. "If it's happening in St. Louis, it's on St. Louis Front Page." St. Louis News St. Louis CitySide Business News Community News St. Charles News Southwest, IL News Art Gallery News Restaurant News Local Attractions Entertainment Shopping Guide Weather Downtown Map Gateway Arch Busch Stadium America's Center Savvis Center Union Station Metropolitan Map Central West End Clayton Forest Park West Port Plaza St. Charles Lambert Airport Transportation How To Reach Us: St. Louis Front Page P.O. Box 1354 St. Louis, MO 63188 Voice: 314-771-0200 Fax: 314-771-0300 To submit restaurant news, contact: editor@slfp.com To advertise, contact: advertising@slfp.com

Parkway Hotel Opens in Central West End ST. LOUIS, MO (SLFP.com), March 24, 2004 - The Parkway Hotel is an inspired fusion of old-world elegance with distinct contemporary energy and glamour. It is located at 4550 Forest Park Blvd., in the heart of the vibrant, historic Central West End enclave, one block from beautiful Forest Park, site of the 1904 World's Fair. The new 220-room hotel at the Washington University Medical Center is connected via skywalk to the Center for Advanced Medicine, Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Siteman Cancer Center, St. Louis Children's Hospital, Washington University School of Medicine and the Eric P. Newman Executive Conference Center. The Concierge Level on the 7th and 8th floors is exclusively for discriminating travelers seeking a higher level of service, privacy and upgraded amenities. Guest Rooms Amenities include: oversized desks, pillow top mattresses, microwaves, refrigerators, high speed Internet access, coffee makers, 27" televisions, direct dial telephones, nintendo, pay per view movies and complimentary cable channels. See Parkway Hotel These floors are accessible via elevator key only, and are comprised of 220 guest rooms including 64 Concierge level rooms, 2 corner suites, 12 King Suites and 2 Presidential Suites. Concierge level rooms offer luxurious amenities and linens, two morning newspapers with an unsurpassed level of attention and personal service. Guests can enjoy evening hors d'oeuvres and a continental breakfast in a cozy seating area, or escape to the lounge to view a favorite show on the wide screen television. The 8th floor of the concierge level includes a unique section of 10 guestrooms and suites that may be reserved as an exclusive wing, and features a private kitchen to allow visiting groups or families to bring their own chef or staff with them. The Parkway Hotel features a fitness facility and full service business center and coin operated laundry. A full service Applebee's Restaurant serving breakfast, lunch, dinner and room-service will open Spring of 2004 in the lobby. Sheraton Hotels to Launch Lo-Carb Lifestyle Service WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (BUSINESS WIRE), March 24, 2004 - When low-carb devotees who number among the senior ranks of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. faced yet another platter of pastry, bagels and bread at the hotel breakfast bar, they decided to do something about it. Beginning April 16th, Sheraton Hotels & Resorts will introduce Lo-Carb Lifestyle(sm) by Sheraton, the most extensive line of low-carb food offerings in the hotel industry. Lo-Carb Lifestyle by Sheraton features all-new low-carb restaurant menus, room service offerings, cocktails, club lounge service and to-go snacks. In an industry first, Sheraton has also developed a special banquet menu meaning that meeting attendees and even guests at weddings, fundraisers and other social functions can easily stick to their low-carb regimens. How far is Sheraton taking the low-carb craze? Well, even the iconic hotel mint is going low-carb - a new, sinfully delicious chocolate mint with less than one net carb is on its way to a pillow near you. Lo-Carb Lifestyle by Sheraton features more than 15 menu items covering breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, snacks and cocktail nibbles. Highlights include a Portobello Chicken Burger, Seared Norwegian Salmon, Mediterranean Garlic Chicken and Salmon Lettuce Wraps as well as favorites including a New York Sirloin, No-Buns Burger, Chicken Wings and plenty of bacon and eggs. Developed by Sheraton Executive Chef Richard Faeh, most menu items contain less than five net carbohydrates. The low-carb drinks menu includes low-carb beer, a gin and tonic and specialty drinks including a Leanytini (Smirnoff vodka, vermouth and lemon twist), a TGIF (Tanqueray and grapefruit juice with fresh strawberries) and more. Starwood Chairman and CEO Barry S. Sternlicht who has been watching his carbs for several years said he decided to develop a low-carb program for Sheraton when the low-carb boxed lunches ran out before sushi, salads or sandwiches at Starwood's recent global conference attended by 5,000 international travelers. "There are more Americans cutting carbs than the entire population of Canada - this is no longer a fad," said Sternlicht. "More than 63% of Americans are interested in reducing their carbohydrates and in a recent survey of Sheraton guests, 40% said they would like the brand to add low-carb offerings to its menus. I have personally found it challenging to stay on my diet on the road, especially when attending meetings, and it is time that the travel industry cater to low- carb devotees." Sternlicht said that 50 percent of his senior team are on low-carb diets. "We feel better, we look better and we perform better. Our cafeteria at corporate headquarters has gone low-carb, and now we are delighted to be able to maintain our diets on the road." According to Norman MacLeod, Sheraton's Executive Vice President, his team tasted more than 100 low-carb snacks ranging from cookies to candy bars to nuts to beef jerky to jelly beans to develop to-go snacks and several hundred hotel chefs are completing a training program focused on preparation and cooking techniques for the roll-out of the new menu. "Our hotels can't wait to launch our low-carb program - their customers have been asking for it." Lo-Carb Lifestyle by Sheraton will debut next month in 200 Sheraton hotels in North America followed by an expansion overseas later this year. Drury Inns Ranked Highest in Customer Satisfaction for Mid-Price Hotels ST. LOUIS, MO (SLFP.com), March 1, 2004 - The numbers are in from the 4th Quarter 2003 Market Metrix Hospitality Index. Based on 35,000 customer interviews, Drury Inns beat four of six "Luxury" brands in customer satisfaction scores, despite selling rooms at less than half the reported rate of those in the "Luxury" category. Guests are finding frequent-stay, or hotel loyalty, programs increasingly important. The number of guests enrolled in frequent-stay programs grew in 2003 by nearly 12 percent. The number of guests who indicated that membership in a hotel's frequent-stay program was "very important" in selecting their most recent hotel stay rose steadily throughout 2003, with a 25 percent annual increase. "Features like transferability of points and instant redemption, combined with no blackout dates and no point expiration, are making it faster and easier for members to redeem their points for hotel and merchandise rewards and are helping drive guests to join such programs in greater numbers," stated Jonathan Barsky, Ph.D., Market Metrix co-founder and partner and University of San Francisco marketing professor. "This is welcome news for hotels, because m embers of hotel loyalty programs are nearly twice as likely to return to a hotel compared to non-members. Beyond the repeat hotel business that these programs encourage, club members typically spend more per room, are less sensitive to price increases and are more satisfied with their hotel experience." Members of a hotel's loyalty program are much more likely to make their reservations online than non-members. Loyalty club members use the Internet 43 percent of the time to make their hotel reservations. Non-members go online only 32 percent of the time to book their hotel rooms. Loyalty club members who make their reservations online are more likely to use the hotel or brand's website versus general travel sites than non-members. Fifty-nine percent of loyalty club members use the hotel or brand's website to make their online reservations. Non-members use these websites considerably less - only 27 percent of the time. US Hospitality Expected to Benefit From Strong European and UK Traffic NEW YORK (SLFP.com), March 1, 2004 - Following more than two years of poor performance, resulting from an economic downturn, the terrorism events of 9/11, the war in Iraq and SARS, the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has forecast a strong return to growth for the US industry. For 2004, WTTC is forecasting: Demand: Encompassing all components of Travel & Tourism consumption, investment, government spending and exports to grow 7.3% (real terms) and total $1.5 trillion in 2004. The ten-year annualized growth (2005-2014) forecast is 4.1% per annum illustrating the outlook for robust recovery in 2004. Visitor Exports: The US industry is expected to benefit from strong European and UK traffic resulting from the strong Pound and Euro to post nearly $100 billion in total Visitor Exports, a gain of 14.7% on 2003 results. This level represents 8.8% of total exports. GDP: Travel & Tourism's contribution to the US economy is illustrated by the direct industry impact of 4.1% of total GDP and the combined direct and indirect impact of the Travel & Tourism economy expected to total 10.7% in 2004. Employment: The US Travel & Tourism industry is expected to produce more than one quarter million (263,190) new jobs in 2004 over it'&s 2003 level to total 6.6 million jobs or 4.7% of total employment. The broader perspective of the Travel & Tourism economy (direct and indirect) is expected to create 793,000 new jobs for the US economy for a total of 16.7 million jobs dependent on Travel & Tourism or 11.9% of total employment. Speaking at the recent New York Times Travel Show Tourism Industry Conference in New York, WTTC President, Jean-Claude Baumgarten stated, "We are cautiously optimistic that the corner has been turned for Travel & Tourism. After nearly three years of gloom and doom, we're expecting the pent up domestic demand to surge in the United States while inbound visitors especially from Europe where the Euro and Pound are particularly strong are expected to provide a much needed boost to the industry." Speaking about the state of the industry, Mr. Baumgarten continued, "I think many of the large industry players have learned a tough lesson over the past few years about the sensitivity this industry has to external events - terrorism, war, SARS - and have sent that message loud and clear to local, state and national officials." "Travel & Tourism is one of the largest employers in the United States providing one in every 8.4 jobs in 2004 and no longer can we sit on our laurels and hope that providing excellent products and service will be sufficient to guarantee our future growth and prosperity," continued Mr. Baumgarten. "We must be proactive and work with government authorities to ensure that our industry is protected and nurtured. The recent reduction of the US marketing and promotion budget is at absolute odds to this cause. It's in our national interest to return the budget to the original $50 million," concluded Mr. Baumgarten. Archived Hotel News: Drury Plaza Hotel Designated As An Official Site On Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail Traveler Concerns Create Large Drop in U.S. Lodging Occupancy World's Tallest Observation Wheel to Be Built in Las Vegas Hotel Fitness Rooms Need to Shape Up Drury Inns Ranked Number One for Mid-Priced Hotels in Customer Satisfaction Hotels Lead the Way in Online Travel Bookings Historic Omni Majestic Hotel Celebrates 90th Birthday in September Construction Begins on Saint Charles Convention Center and Hotel Complex Wyndham Announces Sale of the Mayfair to the Roberts Companies Drury Hotels Introduces FREE High-Speed Internet Access in All Rooms The St. Louis Hotels Guide is owned and maintained by the Moore Design Group for the sole purpose of disseminating news and information about the Metropolitan Saint Louis area. Text or graphics may not be copied, rewritten or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission. For more information, contact editor@slfp.com All rights reserved world wide © 1997 - 2004 Moore Design Group.

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