The 21 Texas Motel 6 properties, which can be found from Conroe to El Paso, are among 250 company-owned facilities to participate in the national corporate signage conversion program. The program was recently implemented to strengthen the motels' affiliation with Accor.

Accor, the leading international hotel management company, operates 3,500 hotels and 400,000 rooms in 90 countries. In the U.S. and Canada, Accor Economy Lodging (AEL), the nation's largest owner and operator of economy lodging hotels and the economy operations unit of ALNA, manages the Motel 6 brand, along with economy lodging leaders Red Roof Inns and Studio 6. In addition, Accor Business and Leisure (ABL) Hotels operates full-service upscale and mid-scale properties in North America including eight Sofitels and one Novotel with more than 3,100 rooms.

"As part of the worldwide Accor Group, Motel 6 demonstrates a bigger context and quality image to travelers by incorporating the Accor name into our logo," said Carol Kirby, Group Executive Vice President for Accor Lodging North America. "With the addition of the 'Accor hotels' identification to our logos, Texas travelers will now recognize that when they stay at a Motel 6, they are also staying at an Accor product -- a company that has more than 40 years of hospitality expertise in all segments of lodging -- from budget properties to four star luxury hotels," she said. "Our new signage conversion program helps position Accor as a global company and simultaneously gives our domestic brands a visible affiliation with a worldwide industry leader."

The installation of the Accor-tagged sign at 21 Texas Motel 6 properties is part of a multi-phase campaign that will evolve over the next 18 months.

According to Tab Sims, Senior Director of Brand Identity, phase one of the $.5 million Accor identification project, includes 250 properties, and is scheduled for completion by January 2002.

"The second phase will involve an additional 250 company-owned properties by June 2002, and we expect to install new signs at more than 600 Motel 6 properties by January 2003," Sims said. The Accor identification program will also extend to the company's outdoor advertising campaign, which involves modifying more than 600 billboards across the country.

"This concerted effort will help customers come to know our affiliation with Accor," said Sims. "Consequently when they see our new marquee, they will also recognize it as a 'sign' of a quality economy lodging."

About Motel 6

With more than 800 locations in the U.S. and Canada, Motel 6 offers the best price of any national lodging chain. Motel 6 properties provide free local phone calls with no long distance access charges, free morning coffee, computer dataports, 24-hour-a-day faxing service, free HBO and ESPN, and remote-controlled television sets. Most properties also have swimming pools, guest laundry facilities and electronic door locks. In addition, many of the motels nationwide have undergone recent renovations and several are newly constructed facilities, which offer guests an array of modern conveniences.

About Accor Lodging North America

Headquartered in Dallas, Accor Lodging North America is a division of Paris-based Accor (www.accor.com), the world's third-largest hospitality company and the European leader in travel, tourism and corporate services. Accor Lodging North America (ALNA) is comprised of two operating units: Accor Economy Lodging (AEL), which represents economy lodging leaders Motel 6, Red Roof Inns and Studio 6; and Accor Business and Leisure (ABL) Hotels, which operates upscale and mid-scale brands Sofitel and Novotel in North America. The ALNA portfolio includes more than 1,200 hotel locations in the U.S. and Canada. Together, Red Roof Inns (www.redroof.com), Motel 6 (www.motel6.com), and Studio 6 (www.staystudio6.com), comprise nearly 10% of the entire U.S. budget lodging segment.

About Accor

With 145,000 associates in 140 countries, Accor is the European leader and one of the world's largest groups in travel, tourism and corporate services, with two major international activities:

• hotels: 3,500 hotels (400,000 rooms) in 90 countries, travel agencies, restaurants and casinos. Accor's hotel brands worldwide include: Sofitel; Novotel; Mercure; Ibis; Etap Hotel; Formule 1; Red Roof Inns; Motel 6; Suitehotel; Coralia; and Thalassa International.
• services to corporate clients and public institutions: each day, 12 million people in 31 countries use a broad range of services (Food Vouchers, People's Care, Expenses Management, Social Services, Incentive/Events) engineered and managed by Accor.