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March 16, 1999
CINCINNATI, OH — March 16, 1999 - Marriott Hotels, Resorts and Suites recently at its annual General Manager’s
Conference in San Antonio, Texas, recognized Kent Bruggeman of the Cincinnati Marriott Northeast as 1999 General Manager
of the Year. Bruggeman and the hotel nearly swept the conference with three out of the four top awards given: Hotel
Performance Excellence and individual awards in Sales and Marketing and Associate Excellence.
The Hotel Performance Excellence award signifies that the Cincinnati Marriott Northeast is one of the top 15 hotels among
Rennaissance hotels, Marriott Hotels, Resorts and Suites and Marriott Conference Center hotels. This is the second time in
1999 that the hotel has been recognized nationally.
Recently, the Cincinnati Marriott Northeast was also featured in a best practices study of the U.S. lodging industry by the
Cornell School of Hotel Management. Sponsored by American Express and the American Hotel & Motel Association, its findings
named the Cincinnati Marriott Northeast and Bruggeman with Best Customer Service.
This month, the hotel receives its third consecutive four-diamond rating from the American Automobile Association (AAA) at a
meeting of the Cincinnati Hotel and Motel Association.
Since its opening in 1996, the Cincinnati Marriott Northeast has received top awards consecutively from Marriott in customer
service and is consistently ranked as one of the top Marriott hotels nationally. It was the first full-service Marriott
developed and managed by Winegardner & Hammons, Inc., and is a joint partnership with The Western and Southern Life Insurance
Company of Cincinnati. 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. A Winegardner & Hammons prototype, the hotel features 302
guest rooms, 14,000 square feet of meeting space, six executive boardrooms, business center, Concierge Level and lounge,
RiverCity Grille, and Kokomo’s Poolside Café.
Three other full-service Marriott hotels are now under construction by Winegardner & Hammons, Inc. and Western and Southern
Life/Eagle Realty Group. The Birmingham Marriott, located in southeast Birmingham at I-459 and Hwy 280, opened March 15, 1999.
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
Kent Bruggeman (513) 459-9800 phone/(513) 459-9808 fax.
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