Aston Hotels, the Newest Independent Hotel Group in the UK Signs with Visual One

Paresh Kotecha, Managing Director of Aston Hotels, commented, “the integrated products that Visual One Systems are providing us with fulfils all our criteria for a hotel system. Aston Hotels is a fast growing group and we need an IT supplier that can grow with us, Visual One fits the bill perfectly. We have seen Visual One System grow from no presence in the UK in early 2003, to being a market leader today which is very impressive and gives me comfort that we are going to be working with the right company and product”

Mike Gadbury, Managing Director of Visual One (Europe) said, "We have built up an excellent client base over the last three years and our focus remains on providing our customers not only with an excellent product but also a service ethic that I believe is critical to our future. Too many companies these days switch over to automated call systems or outsourcing to places like India for their help desk support. In my opinion many of them offer very poor service because of this trend, which is often caused by a drive to reduce costs. However, service suffers. We at Visual One strive to ensure customers can speak to a human being and respond to their needs. I am delighted that Aston Hotels have researched the market and are the latest group to choose Visual One".

About Aston Hotels | Aston Hotels is a new independent hotel group, which currently owns and manages a Darlington-based hotel and which will soon provide leisure and business travellers with superior standard accommodation and exceptional value for money at its new hotel opening in Scotland later this year followed by its first venture in Wales, to open early 2007.

Aston Hotels’ mission is to bridge the gap between top end hotels and basic budget alternatives – offering clients, premium accommodation with state-of-the-art facilities and high service standards for the business and leisure traveller alike.

The beautiful Scottish town of Dumfries, an enclave for tourists and an up and coming business and conference destination will be home to Aston Hotels’ first Scottish venture, due to open in September 2006. This will be followed by the company’s first Welsh hotel opening, scheduled for early 2007 in Neath, which is only seven miles from Swansea and 30 minutes from Cardiff. Neath is a gateway to magnificent countryside and Baglan Energy Park, the UK’s largest business park.

Aston Hotels’ founders are Paresh Kotecha, also the firm’s chief executive and Nallan Rangesh who is a non-executive director on the board. The company’s board comprises four other directors: John Deighan, operations director, Austen Scattergood, sales and marketing director and Scott Walters, finance director and Tony Elliott, development director. The Aston Hotels’ executive board of directors bring an extensive wealth of business and hospitality experience to the new venture with over 100 years of combined hotel and leisure experience between them. More information at .

About Visual One | Since 1977, Visual One Systems has provided software systems to the hospitality industry. Their Windows-based products, using a Microsoft SQL database, include property management, sales & catering, restaurant point-of-sale, back-office accounting, and golf course management. The company has 1500 sites worldwide and has many well-known customers including The Strand Palace Hotel, The Zetter, Woodbury Park Hotel, The Royal Westmoreland, Seymour Hotel Group, Whittlebury Hall, Wyboston Lakes and the Sandals Resorts in the Caribbean. The US Headquarters are based in Washington and the UK Headquarters are based in Leatherhead, Surrey.

For more information, please visit or contact:

in the US: Dan Wasser, VP Marketing, 301-926-2500 or [email protected]
in the UK: Mike Gadbury, Managing Director, 44(0)1372 371155 or [email protected]