Tampa, Fla., Receives New Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites - Addition brings Tampa Area Holiday Inn Express Hotels to Nine

"Holiday Inn Express hotels are designed to be the smart choice for value-conscious business and leisure travelers," said Jenifer Zeigler, brand vice president, Holiday Inn Express. "Development in the Tampa area is important in expanding our Holiday Inn Express consumer base and establishing a strong presence in prime tourist locations."

Situated in "New Tampa", the new 55,000 square-foot hotel is within minutes to Busch Gardens, Museum of Science and Industry, Adventure Island, University of South Florida, Hidden River Business Park, Telecom Park as well as some of Tampa's best medical facilities. Over fifteen restaurants and numerous golf courses are within a few miles of the hotel.

The Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites New Tampa-I-75 Bruce B. Downs offers a variety of amenities such as a fitness center, business center and swimming pool surrounded by lush tropical landscape. Twenty-seven guestrooms are suites and are equipped with microwaves, refrigerators, wet bar and a separate seating area with sleeper sofa. Ideal for business meetings, the Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites New Tampa-I-75 Bruce B. Downs offers 3,000 square feet of meeting space with wired and wireless Internet connectivity.

Standard Holiday Inn Express guest room accommodations feature comfortable queen or king-sized beds, a sitting area with a lounge chair, cable television, long-distance access, hairdryer, coffee machine, non-stick iron and ironing board and safety deposit boxes. For those travelers with business needs, guestrooms also provide large desks with ergonomic chairs, data ports, two phones with private voicemail, complimentary high-speed Internet access and complimentary USA Today newspapers.

"We've invested a lot of time and money to build the right property for this wonderful New Tampa area and I couldn't be more pleased with the end result," said David Larson, general manager. "Tampa is a well-traveled market for tourism and business travel and a perfect fit for the Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites product."

The Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites New Tampa-I-75 Bruce B. Downs offers competitive rates for business and leisure travelers, toll free (U.S. and Canada only) and free local phone calls. The new property features the Express Start breakfast bar. The complimentary new breakfast bar, which is a standard at all Holiday Inn Express hotels, features traditional morning favorites as well as Smart Roast 100% Arabica coffee and cinnamon rolls prepared with an exclusive recipe developed especially for the Holiday Inn Express brand.

The new hotel is located at 8310 Galbraith Rd., Tampa, Fla. Telephone: (813) 910-7171; Facsimile: (813) 910-3310; Website:

Holiday Inn Express continues to set the pace in the limited-service hotel category as the fastest-growing hotel brand, opening on average two new hotels every week. Holiday Inn Express adds to its achievements a growing list of industry and consumer accolades such as being named the top hotel choice for entrepreneurs by Entrepreneur magazine as well as the top hotel brand in its segment by Business Travel News. Holiday Inn Express captured the Travel Industry Association's 2001 Odyssey Award, in the category of Travel Advertising, for its Stay Smart advertising campaign. The brand has also captured the American Marketing Association's EFFIE awards (1999-2002). The national EFFIEs are the only major awards to recognize business results attributable to advertising campaigns.

The Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites New Tampa-I-75 Bruce B. Downs participates in Priority Club Rewards, the world's first hotel loyalty program. Guests benefit from new member-preferred features like points transfer, points purchase and the fastest way to Elite status, with competitive features of no blackout dates and no point expiration to form a powerful program that is easy and truly rewarding. According to CNN: "The new Priority Club Rewards program is the best one around..." Enrollment in Priority Club Rewards is free and Priority Club Rewards points can be redeemed for great merchandise, airline miles, or free room nights at more than 3,300 hotels worldwide. Guests may enroll online at www.priorityclub.com, call 800-272-9273 or register at any Holiday Inn Express hotel.

Holiday Inn Express hotels offer outstanding value and customer service in more than 1,400 locations around the world. For more information about Holiday Inn Express or to book reservations, call 1-800-HOLIDAY or visit .

Six Continents Hotels is a leading global hotel group whose brands include InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express and Staybridge Suites. It owns, operates or franchises more than 3,300 hotels and over 515,000 guest rooms in nearly 100 countries and territories around the world.

The following are some of the service marks owned by Six Continents Hotels, Inc., its parent, subsidiaries or affiliates: Holiday Inn®, Crowne Plaza®, Holiday Inn Express® in the Americas, Express by Holiday InnSM in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Holiday Inn Select®, Holiday Inn Garden CourtSM, Holiday Inn SunSpree® Resort, Staybridge Suites® by Holiday Inn®, Holiday Inn Family SuitesSM Resort , Holidex®, Priority Club®, InterContinental® , Forum®, Stay Smart®, Express StartSM and Smart RoastTM. Centra® in Canada and Mexico; CentraSM in the U.S.; ParkroyalSM in the U.S. and Canada; Parkroyal® in Mexico.

Six Continents Club®, Six ContinentsSM, 6 ContinentsSM and the 6C logo are service marks of Six Continents PLC and used under license.

Six Continents Hotels, Inc. offers information and reservations capability on the Internet - , for InterContinental Hotels and Resorts, www.crowneplaza.com for Crowne Plaza Hotels and Resorts, www.holiday-inn.com for Holiday Inn hotels, for Holiday Inn Express hotels, www.staybridge.com for Staybridge Suites by Holiday Inn, and www.priorityclub.com.

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