Saint Louis Hotel News April, 2007 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 Info 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 Scottrade 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 hotel news, contact: editor@slfp.com To advertise, contact: advertising@slfp.com

Hotel Web Sites Score Higher in Customer Satisfaction St. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), April 15, 2007 - Hotel web sites now score higher in satisfaction than popular travel sites, according to Market Metrix, one of the most respected authority on customer satisfaction in the hospitality industry. One big reason why more customers are using hotel sites to make their reservations is that hotel companies have significantly improved their websites. The quality of the experience with the website can influence customers' decision making, ultimately reinforcing loyalty or losing customers for the brand. The top performing hotel site for 2006 was Drury Inns. According to travelers, Drury's website delivered the best user experience compared to all other hotel brand websites. Sleep Inns (Choice) and Courtyard by Marriott finished closely behind Drury. Hotel and brand websites have improved significantly and now, many of these sites outscore the best Internet travel portals in overall satisfaction with the online experience. This is the first time Drury Hotels has ranked #1 Overall Hotel - ahead of powerhouse brands like Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons and Walt Disney Resorts. Drury doesn't provide valet services, or bellhops or any of the other extravagant services customers find themselves paying for at upscale hotels. What Drury Hotels does offer are reasonable rates (about $84 a night), free hot breakfast, free long distance calls, free high-speed Internet, and free evening cocktails. Apparently, 'FREE' is a 4-letter word that most travelers love to hear! More people are booking online than ever before -- and hotel companies have been trying hard to get these customers to book through their websites. These efforts have paid off. The majority of persons who make hotel reservations online are now booking directly on the hotel or brand website rather than going through the big travel portals. This is quite an achievement for the hotel industry despite many new websites attempting to book or refer hotel reservations. Hotel companies are paying less money to travel portals and are establishing more relationships directly with their guests. In 2004 and 2005, hotel websites were outscored by Yahoo! Travel and Hotwire for satisfaction with the online reservation experience. But now, for the first time, hotel web sites scored higher in satisfaction (providing a better reservations experience) than popular travel web sites. To make these gains, hotel sites have improved their navigation, design, usefulness of information, ease of booking and other critical components of the online experience. The MMHI includes measures of the hotel reservation experience - both online and offline. This data provides special insight into the growing popularity of website usage and the satisfaction with the online experience. Based on 140,000 consumer interviews conducted from January through December 2006, Drury Inns, JetBlue Airways and Enterprise Rent-a-Car ranked number one in hotel, airline and rental car industry customer satisfaction, respectively. Fuel Prices Won't Dampen Vacation Season St. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), April 15, 2007 - Don't expect less crowded roads and waterways this vacation season. According to Nationwide Mutual Insurance's Second Annual Fueling Powersports Index, powersporters - owners of RVs, travel trailers, boats and motorcycles - indicate even if gas prices go up, their love for their lifestyle has them willing to 'pay to play.' Nationwide polled 2,518 motorcycle, power boat, bass boat, RV and travel trailer owners to gauge their sentiments on how fuel prices would impact their powersport vehicle use. Nearly 70 percent of powersport enthusiasts say they will not change their vacation plans because of high prices. "Our second annual survey demonstrates that powersport owners are adapting to a range of fuel prices. In fact, enthusiasts say gas would have to cost nearly twice as much before they would stop using their vehicles," said Mitch Roggemann, national sales director for Nationwide's Property & Casualty Specialty Products. "This is reflective of the fact that close to 70 percent of all powersporters use time spent on their vehicles as an escape from everyday life." "At Nationwide, we know powersporting is truly a lifestyle," said Roggemann. "Understanding the passions and motivations of these enthusiasts allows us to remain connected with them, and ensures our ability to offer the best protection available." Key findings: Enthusiasts say they would pay from $2.88 (travel trailer owners) up to $3.38 (motorcyclists) per gallon before even considering using their vehicles less frequently. That's 28 cents more per gallon than motorcyclists said they were willing to pay in the Nationwide survey last year. Power boaters and bass boaters say gas prices would have to reach $3.26 and $3.17 respectively before they would use their boats less often. That's 50 cents more per gallon than they said last year. The study found that fuel prices would have to go through the roof before enthusiasts would stop using their vehicles, with prices ranging from $4.14 per gallon (travel trailer owners) up to $6.27 per gallon (motorcyclists). Most powersporters plan on traveling long distances this summer. RV owners say they expect to drive 819 miles round trip each time they use their vehicle this year. Travel trailer owners expect to drive 459 miles round trip each time this year. While powersporters don't expect to use their vehicles fewer times this year, high fuel prices do have some effect on how long they run their vehicles per trip. Motorcyclists expect to ride about two hours and 54 minutes per trip this summer. That's about 18 minutes shorter than last summer. Power boaters will run their boats about 16 minutes less per outing and bass boaters will run their engines about 32 minutes less per outing. Archived Hotel News: • Holiday Inn Express Partners With Reading Is Fundamental to Promote a Smart Start in Education • Seminole Tribe Finalizes Acquisition of Hard Rock International • Hilton St. Louis Downtown Recognized for Best Overall Performance • Sheraton Clayton Plaza Hotel St. Louis to Undergo Multi-Million Dollar Renovation • Marriott Makes Sweeping Move To Eliminate Trans Fats from Food At Over 2,300 Hotels in North America • Loews Hotels Bans Artificial Trans-Fats at Its 18 Hotels and Resorts • Adults Miss the Luxuries of a Hotel Stay When Traveling Home for the Holidays 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 - 2007 Moore Design Group.

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