Thistle Named First Hotel Group to Achieve Full Hospitality Assured Accreditation

UXBRIDGE, England, August 31, 2010 - Thistle has announced it is the first hotel group to be acknowledged with
full Hospitality Assured accreditation throughout its entire portfolio having
surpassed the strict assessment criteria within all of its hotels across the
UK, a quarter of which achieving the highly-regarded 'world class' status .

Measuring the quality and service of customer facing businesses
specifically within the leisure and tourism industry, the Hospitality Assured
accreditation is recognition of the group's high standards across its
portfolio of excellently-located properties.

Created by the industry's professional body, the Institute of
Hospitality, the Hospitality Assured mark of approval takes into account the
unique characteristics of the industry. It is measured by independent,
experienced quality assessors who critically analysed each of Thistle's
individual properties against ten customer-related steps, including: customer
research, operational planning, standards of performance, training,
development and customer satisfaction improvement.

These ten steps are broken down into 49 criteria that explored how
Thistle's customer experience is devised, implemented, delivered and improved
upon. In order to achieve accreditation, each of Thistle's hotels had to
score at least 60% overall and a minimum of 50% for each step. The group
greatly exceeded this standard, with a quarter of its properties marked with
the Institute's exceptional 'world class' grading by achieving a score of 70%
or higher.

Ann Corrigan, Managing Director of Hospitality Assured commented: "The
Hospitality Assured standard demands high quality standards and strong
evidence of customer satisfaction, making it no mean feat for businesses
across the industry. Thistle has demonstrated that it's a serious competitor
within the hotel sector - setting its sights high, developing its teams
accordingly and putting its entire portfolio of hotels completely to the
test. The group achieved resounding success and we're delighted to be
confidently marking them as a hotel group that offers excellent customer care
as standard.

Heiko Figge, Managing Director, Guoman & Thistle Hotels added: "This is
an outstanding achievement for Thistle and we are delighted to become the
first hotel group to be wholly awarded the Hospitality Assured accreditation.

"As our dedication to our guests is integral to all we do, this is such
valuable industry recognition for the group. The accreditation provides us
with a great tool to ensure our guests are in very safe hands when they stay
with us; they can rely on our consistently high standards. The Institute's
approval in this way guarantees our customer-service and care is exceptional
every time, throughout all of our UK hotels."

Thistle is currently well underway with its significant refurbishment
project, investing GBP100million to transform its portfolio into modernised,
individual properties with a fresh, contemporary look and feel.

About Thistle

Thistle Hotels is part of Guoman Hotel Management (UK) Limited which
operates hotels throughout the UK. Thistle has 33 hotels across the country
including Exeter hotels (
www.thistle.com/en/hotels/united_kingdom/exeter/the_rougemont_hotel/in
dex.html), Poole hotels (
www.thistle.com/en/hotels/united_kingdom/poole/thistle_poole/index.htm
l) and Inverness hotels (
www.thistle.com/en/hotels/united_kingdom/inverness/thistle_inverness/i
ndex.html). Thistle also offers a number of hotels in superb city centre
locations, including eleven in central London such as Westminster Hotels
(www.thistle.com/en/hotels/united_kingdom/london/thistle_westminster/i
ndex.html) and hotels near Marble Arch (
www.thistle.com/en/hotels/united_kingdom/london/thistle_marble_arch/in
dex.html). With a selection of restaurants and a choice of excellent health
and leisure facilities, Thistle has something to offer everyone.

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Thistle Hotels is the first hotel group to achieve Hospitality Assured
accreditation, across its entire UK portfolio. Created by the Institute of
Hospitality, the Hospitality Assured standard measures the quality within
customer facing businesses across the hospitality, tourism and leisure
industry.

    PR Contact:
    Kymberly Hill
    Head of Public Relations
    Guoman Hotel Management (UK) Limited
    Corporate Office
    PO Box 909
    Bath Road
    Uxbridge
    UB8 9FH
    +44(0)20-78686-322

    www.thistle.com

PR Contact: Kymberly Hill, Head of Public Relations, Guoman Hotel Management (UK) Limited, Corporate Office, PO Box 909, Bath Road, Uxbridge, UB8 9FH, +44(0)20-78686-322