WINGATE INN® HOTELS CROSS BORDER AS BRAND BREAKS GROUND ON FIRST HOTEL IN CANADA (1/01)

Wingate Inns International, Inc. has earned its moniker as Superior Lodging Corp. has begun building the first franchised Wingate Inn hotel in Canada. The four-story, 103-room hotel, which should open in the third quarter of 2001, will be located off Trans Canada Highway 2 on Macleod Trail South in Calgary. The new hotel will feature free guestroom high-speed Internet access via Ethernet card-equipped laptop computers, a 24-hour business center, and a variety of other guest-friendly amenities.

"This groundbreak is an outstanding achievement for the brand, as well as for our franchisee," says Keith J. Pierce, Wingate Inns International, Inc. president and CEO. "We've been growing rapidly in the United States, and now we can forge ahead to develop hotels in all of North America, particularly since Marc Staniloff, president of Superior Lodging Corp., has committed to opening 10 new Wingate Inn hotels in Canada over the next 10 years. That development schedule will help us quickly establish a strong brand name and presence throughout Canada."

Marc Staniloff adds, "After a thorough analysis of franchisors and markets throughout the country, we came to the overwhelming conclusion that Wingate Inns was the best hotel product available for the Calgary area. We wanted a brand that was committed to building only new hotels, and Wingate Inns has already established a great name. Another reason we chose Wingate Inns was because they listened and responded to our needs. They've consistently treated our team with great respect, and we plan to do the same with business and leisure travelers to our hotel once it opens next year."

As a part of the Wingate Inn chain, this franchised Wingate Inn hotel will feature high-speed Internet access connections in every guestroom, as well as in the meeting room and boardroom. Guests with a standard Ethernet card and RJ45 connector will be able to enjoy free access to the Internet from guestrooms at speeds up to 50 times faster than conventional 56K modems. Meeting room and boardroom high-speed Internet access will be rentable on a half-day and full day basis.

The hotel will also feature standard amenities such as express, automated check-in and check-out, as well as in-room cordless phones and two-line desk phones with dataport, speaker, conference call and voice mail capabilities. Wingate Inn hotels also offer meeting rooms, 24-hour access to a business center with free usage of fax, printing and copying equipment, and wireless phones that can be checked out from the front desk and used anywhere within the hotel for both incoming and outgoing calls.

Although focused on providing efficient working conditions for the business traveler, Wingate Inn hotels also provide amenities for leisure travelers such as an in-room entertainment system featuring pay-per-view movies and Nintendo 64 games. Guests can also benefit from larger-than-average guestrooms (12' x 28'), an expanded continental breakfast, a whirlpool, exercise facilities, free accommodations for children 18 and under accompanied by adults, the Wingate Inn 100% gest satisfaction guarantee and in-room safes, coffee makers, hair dryers and ironing boards with irons. In addition to the standard amenities, the Wingate Inn hotel in Calgary will feature 30 extra large suites, a spa and an indoor pool with a water slide.

Wingate Inns is an all-new construction hotel chain that opened its first franchised hotel in July 1996. Its focused service, upper mid-market franchised hotels feature sophisticated, consumer-based technology and comfortable, oversized rooms that were created in response to business travelers' needs. All Wingate Inn hotels are independently owned and operated under Franchise agreements with Wingate Inns International, Inc.