�Not only are we located within a few miles of BASF Corporation and the Volvo Construction and Equipment Company,� says sales director Constance Philips, �the hotel is also across the street from the Biltmore Square shopping mall, and just minutes from Blue Ridge Parkway and the Biltmore Estate mansion.  Because of our location, our goal is to service both business and leisure travelers to the area.�

John Paul Nichols, president and CEO of Wingate Inns International Inc., adds, �We�re very excited to open a Wingate Inn hotel in Asheville.  Our upper mid-market hotel offers an array of business-related amenities, allowing travelers to conduct business in an efficient and effective manner.  In addition, the hotel�s comfortable-oversized rooms and incredible value will satisfy leisure travelers as well.�

As part of Wingate Inns International Inc., this new Wingate Inn hotel will feature high speed Internet access connections in every guestroom, as well as in its 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 also features 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.  They 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% guest satisfaction guarantee and in-room safes, coffee makers, hair dryers and ironing boards with irons.  In addition, the new Wingate Inn hotel in Asheville features 10 king rooms with whirlpool tubs and will host a weekly manager�s reception that features complimentary wine, cheese, beer and snacks for guests.  Room rates begin at $69 for a standard room and $90 for a king room. 

Wingate Inns International Inc. 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.  In addition, the brand is averaging one new hotel opening per week.  All Wingate Inn hotels are independently owned and operated under franchise agreements. Wingate Inns International Inc. is a subsidiary of Cendant Corporation (NYSE:CD).