Country Inns & Suites By Carlson® Ranks As The No. 1 ‘midpriced Brand Without Food & Beverage' In Business Travel News' 2006 Top U.s. Hotel Chain Survey

(Tuesday, March 07, 2006) - Country Inns & Suites By Carlson, the mid-tier lodging brand of Minneapolis-based Carlson Hotels Worldwide, today announced that it ranked No. 1 overall in the "midpriced without food and beverage" segment of the 2006 Top U.S. Hotel Chain Survey published by Business Travel News, a trade publication written for corporate travel buyers and business travel agents. Brands were ranked by an overall score and rated on 10 different attributes, such as physical appearance, corporate rate programs and quality of meeting facilities. Country Inns & Suites rated highest in the areas of arranging group travel; commission payment systems; helpful and courteous staff; physical appearance; quality business center; and quality of in-room business amenities. In addition to this ranking, the brand also scored highest in customer satisfaction among "midscale hotels without food and beverage" in the 4th Quarter 2005 Market Metrix Hospitality Index.

"To receive third-party endorsements from industry experts that we depend on for our success, truly justifies the hard work the Country Inns & Suites By Carlson team is doing at all levels of the organization," said Nancy Johnson, executive vice president of Full Service Hotels, Carlson Hotels Worldwide. "The readers of BTN are important buyers of our hotels from the business segment, and the Market Metrix index is recognized as the most detailed, in-depth measure of customer satisfaction in our industry. It is very rewarding for our brand to not only be included on their consideration lists, but atop their leader boards. We are very honored by these rankings, and believe they signify that Country Inns & Suites By Carlson is an example of what guests look for in a mid-tier brand today."

The Business Travel News Top U.S. Hotel Chain Survey is an annual measure of corporate travel buyers' opinions of the lodging brands that their companies and clients use.

The publication sent an email to a random sample of 6,000 corporate readers responsible for hotel buying decisions. Survey recipients were asked to rank hotels with which they had done business with within the past 12 months.

The Market Metrix Hospitality Index is a quarterly report of customer satisfaction with hotel, airline and car rental companies based on 35,000 in-depth consumer interviews. The MMHI ranks top hospitality brands by industry and, for hotels, by categories such as luxury, mid-price and economy.

About Country Inns & Suites By Carlson

As a leader in the mid-scale hotel segment, Country Inns & Suites By Carlson locations feature residential architecture and home-like interior design with highlights that include hardwood flooring, lobby fireplace and front porch. Currently, there are more than 380 locations worldwide.

Each hotel offers many upgraded amenities such as complimentary breakfast, in-room hair dryer, coffee maker, iron and ironing board, and weekday morning newspaper. The brand is known for its consistently high quality accommodations and personal, warm hospitality.

For the 14th year in a row, Country Inns & Suites has earned a 98 percent guest return rate, one of the highest in the industry. As a way to thank guests for their loyalty to the brand, Country Inns & Suites provides an in-house lending library program at its hotels in the U.S. and Canada called "Book It And Return" which lends free books to guests based on the assurance they will return the book on their next visit. For every book returned to a Country Inns & Suites hotel, the company makes a $5.00 donation to ProLiteracy Worldwide.

Reservations can be made online at www.countryinns.com, through a travel agent or by calling toll-free at 800-456-4000.

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Country Inns & Suites By Carlson® is part of Minneapolis, Minn.-based Carlson Hotels Worldwide whose brands also include Regent International Hotels; Radisson Hotels & Resorts®; Park Plaza® Hotels & Resorts and Park Inn®.


Business Travel News has been the voice of authority for corporate travel buyers throughout North America for over 20 years. BTN publishes 29 issues annually, including 23 newspapers and six Reference/Resource manuals. In addition, BTN offers product extensions providing total coverage of the commercial travel industry. More information is available online at www.btnonline.com.




Market Metrix, LLC was founded in 1996 to provide the hospitality industry with better customer and employee satisfaction measurement programs and management tools. In addition to MMHI, Market Metrix provides clients with award-winning survey systems and strategic services. For more information, log onto www.marketmetrix.com or call 1-800-239-7515.

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