Utell Portfolio Claims More Boutique Properties Than Any Other Hotel Chain

With more than 100 boutique hotels in the Utell portfolio, these elite properties recognize that Utell's long-standing relationships with the world's leading travel agencies help build awareness of their properties and ultimately drive new bookings. Dennis Hofilena, director of sales and marketing for the Sunset Marquis Hotel and Villas in West Hollywood, California, credits Utell's broad electronic distribution for generating increased worldwide exposure to the agency community. "We became Utell members in January 2001," said Hofilena. "Even with the drop in occupancy that we attribute to the economy, we've seen a 24 percent increase in year-over-year GDS travel agency bookings since joining Utell. The results certainly confirm that we made the right choice."

Utell added a number of stunning properties to its catalogue of boutique properties in the past 15 months. Recent highlights include:

In February, the four-star Magnolia Hotel opened in Houston after a $50 million renovation.

On the other side of the globe, the five-star Arabian Court in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, celebrated its grand opening in December 2002.

The newly renovated four-star Majestic Hotel in mid-town Manhattan joined Utell in January.

Conde Nast Traveller named new Utell member Sixty Thompson in New York "one of the world's hottest hotels."

In addition to the decor that defines today's lifestyle properties, Utell boutique member hotels are known for delivering exceptional service. For example, the 2003 New York Times Travel Guide honored the Lucerne Hotel in New York City, ranking the property first for service and value in its category. Frommer's Guide similarly lauded this hotel in 1999.

Through Utell's global distribution system (GDS) connections, and fully commissionable online booking capabilities provided on www.utell.com, it has never been easier for agents to book both corporate and leisure clients in these exclusive hotels.

Utell's connection to Pegasus' Electronic Distribution System allows member properties to be accessible via the four major GDSs (Amadeus, Galileo, Sabre and Worldspan), the leading sources for travel agent bookings. According to PhoCusWright, GDS bookings via traditional offline travel agents are the second-largest channel for hotel reservations, accounting for 21 percent of bookings in 2001(2). (Hotel call centers handled 63 percent of bookings in 2001.(2))

Utell.com provides agents with an excellent channel to access information about Utell's boutique hotels. Boutique hotels can be easily viewed at Utell.com and on GDS terminals under the Style category of Utell's Selections program. Utell Selections segments hotels into well-defined categories that both novice and veteran agents can use to quickly find the most appropriate Utell property. Many properties showcase photos of room types and outdoor settings on the Web site, as well as information on meeting facilities, nearby attractions, and room amenities. Agents can conveniently reserve rooms on www.utell.com while still earning full commission.

Travel agents can count on the Utell worldwide sales force, one of the largest in the hotel industry, to keep them abreast of the latest Utell hotel offerings in this growing category. Through the Utell "roadshow tour" for member properties, multiple hotel representatives travel with the Utell sales force into cities where they can meet large numbers of agents, showcase their properties, and share pertinent information. Many boutique hotels also participate in Utell marketing programs, such as the new year-long GREATRATE promotion, which features discounts ranging from 15 to 50 percent at properties and booking incentives for travel agents.

"Our vast range of hotel options gives agencies around the world a single, best source to better serve their client base," said Graham Richards, vice president of Utell Global Sales for Pegasus Solutions. "We are uniquely positioned to link boutique hotels, many of which have limited resources to promote their properties via electronic and traditional channels on their own, with agents that have the power to recommend a hotel at the point of sale. Through our electronic distribution outlets and everyday contacts with agents, we will continue doing our part to build awareness of the extraordinary experience a traveler can expect from staying at a Utell boutique hotel."

Company Information

With more than 4,500 member hotels in 147 countries, Utell, a service of Pegasus Solutions, Inc., is the hotel industry's largest third-party marketing and reservations provider. Started in 1930, the Utell service offers travel agents around the world a single source to go to for finding and booking virtually every type of hotel, from deluxe to economy, from independent properties such as the Dorchester in London and the Paris Las Vegas Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, to hotel chains such as Warwick International, Helmsley Hotels and SuperClubs. For more information, or to make reservations with a Utell-represented property, visit Utell's Web site at www.utell.com, or access the UI code on global distribution systems.

Dallas-based Pegasus Solutions, Inc. (www.pegs.com) is a leading global provider of hotel reservations-related services and technology. Its services include central reservations systems; electronic distribution services that connect more than 45,000 hotels to the Internet and to the global distribution systems (GDS); travel agent commission processing and payment services; the Utell marketing and reservation representation service (www.Utell.com); and PegasusCentral(TM), a Web-based enterprise solution with property management applications. Pegasus' customers comprise the majority of travel agencies around the world, including the top 10 largest U.S.-based travel agencies(3); more than 48,000 hotel properties around the globe, including all of the 50 largest hotel brands in the world based on total number of guest rooms(4); and thousands of Web sites/services have their hotel reservations Powered by Pegasus(TM). In addition to its corporate headquarters in Dallas, Pegasus has 20 offices in 11 countries, including regional hubs in Phoenix, London and Singapore. The company's stock is traded on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol PEGS.

• (1) Hotels Magazine, July 2002, "Hotels Consortia 25"
• (2) PhoCusWright Report, November 2002, "Hotel & Lodging Commerce"
• (3) Travel Weekly, June 24, 2002, "Top 50 Travel Agencies"
• (4) Hotel Business, February 7, 2002, "The Top Hotel Brands" - ranked by total number of rooms (2001)