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March 15, 1999
BIRMINGHAM, AL — March 15, 1999 - Marriott International, in conjunction with Winegardner & Hammons, Inc.,
and The Western and Southern Life Insurance Company, are pleased to announce the opening of a new full-service,
295-room hotel in Birmingham, Alabama. Located in flourishing southeast Birmingham, the Birmingham Marriott is the
third full-service Marriott hotel that Winegardner and Hammons has opened.
Birmingham’s newest hotel offers an upscale design, Marriott’s legendary service and an unprecedented list of
amenities to satisfy the needs of today’s business travelers and professional meeting planners.
The Birmingham Marriott features 295 guest rooms, 14,000 square feet of flexible meeting space, nine executive
boardrooms, an indoor pool and fitness center and over 200 “Rooms That Work™.” Specially designed for business
travelers and offered at no additional charge, “Rooms That Work™” are equipped with a large console table and writing
desk with adjustable ergonomic chair, moveable desk light, two-line telephones and a data port.
The hotel will participate in the Marriott Rewards frequent traveler program as well as Marriott’s highly-acclaimed
Meetings Program.
The General Manager, Larry Cooper, leads a team of highly experienced sales professionals including Ashley Condon and
Debbie Higgins, Sales Account Managers; Allison Hale and Anna Fowler, Sales and Catering Managers.
Adjacent to Grandview Corporate Park and HealthSouth, the hotel is convenient to Perimeter Park South, Raytheon,
BellSouth. Area attractions include Bruno’s Memorial Golf Classic, Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, Birmingham Zoo,
Talladega Super Speedway, VisionLand and the McWane Center.
The Birmingham Marriott is the seventh joint venture for Winegardner & Hammons, Inc. (WHI) and The Western and
Southern Life Insurance Company. Both companies are based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Eagle Realty Group, a full-service
real estate company also headquartered in Cincinnati, served as the real estate advisor to Western and Southern Life
on this investment.
The Cincinnati Marriott Northeast, which opened in 1996, was the first full-service Marriott developed by the partnership.
It is consistently ranked as one of the top Marriott hotels in the world and has won numerous national awards for excellence.
The partnership’s second Marriott, the Columbus Marriott Northwest, was named best new opening by Marriott for 1998. Two other
Marriott hotels are now under development by Winegardner & Hammons and Western and Southern Life/Eagle Realty. The Cincinnati
Airport Marriott, adjacent to the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, is slated to open in the fall of
1999. A full-service Marriott hotel, adjacent to the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport in the Centreport Complex, will
open in spring 2000.
The Western and Southern Life Insurance Company holds the highest ratings awarded by three independent ratings
organizations—Standard & Poor’s, Duff & Phelps, and A.M. Best. Western and Southern Life is a member of the Western-Southern
Enterprise, a dynamic group of financial services companies with $14 billion in assets.
Winegardner & Hammons, Inc., is a full-service hotel management company with a reputation for progressive and successful hospitality management. WHI’s owned/managed portfolio includes resorts, all-suite, extended-stay, full-service and conference center hotels in many diverse markets across the country. WHI currently manages over 30 hotels in the Unites States and operates most major hotel brands.
Marriott International, Inc. is a leading worldwide hospitality company with over 1,800 operating units in the United States
and 52 other countries and territories. Marriott's lodging business includes hotels and vacation ownership (timeshare) resorts
operated and franchised under the Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, Renaissance, Residence Inn, Courtyard, TownePlace Suites, Fairfield
Inn, SpringHill Suites, Ramada International and Marriott Vacation Club International brands. Other businesses include senior
living communities and services, and food service distribution. The company is headquartered in Washington, D.C. and has
approximately 133,000 employees. In fiscal year 1998, Marriott International reported total sales of $8.0 billion.
For more information, contact Mike Conway, Winegardner & Hammons (513) 891-1066 phone/ (513) 794-2590 fax, or Larry Cooper
(205) 968-3775 phone/(205) 968-3742 fax.
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