Thistle Hotels Announces General Manager to Relocate to Kent

LONDON, October 29, 2010 - Thistle Hotels has announced the appointment of Alan Whiteley as general
manager of Thistle Brands Hatch hotel. Already a respected general manager
within the company, Whiteley makes the move from Thistle Middlesbrough, where
he was responsible for significantly raising the profile of the hotel in the
region and helping it become the star performer of the group.

Starting his hotel career as a kitchen porter when he left school,
Whiteley has built up a wealth of experience over the 17 years he has worked
in the hotel industry. Not content with being a porter for long, he quickly
worked his way up to take on a number of senior roles, including regional
head chef and operations manager, before taking on his current role as
general manager.

In his new role, Whiteley will oversee the day-to-day management of the
hotel and its staff, along with the overall direction of the hotel.
Overlooking the Brands Hatch motorsport race circuit, an immediate focus for
him is to build on the ideal position of the hotel and help drive occupancy
rates amongst the leisure and business markets.

Commenting on his move, Alan Whiteley said: "Coming from Thistle
Middlesbrough, a high performing hotel with a fantastic profile in the
region, I certainly knew I had a challenge ahead of me, but it was one I just
couldn't turn down. Having undergone a recent refurbishment, Thistle Brands
Hatch has huge potential and this is a great opportunity for me to really put
my mark on it. I've got lots of ideas and I aim to quickly make Thistle
Brands Hatch the flagship hotel of the group."

Darren Patt, regional operations director, Thistle Hotels, commented: "A
great deal of effort is being put into raising the profile of Thistle Brands
Hatch, particularly amongst motorsport fans, as its location is
second-to-none. Alan is a fantastic general manager with a proven track
record and we're confident he's up to the challenge of putting the hotel back
on the map."

Whiteley lives in North London with his wife and three children.

About Thistle

Thistle Hotels is part of Guoman Hotel Management (UK) Limited, which
operates several UK hotels (
www.thistle.com/en/group/find_a_hotel_map.html?region=Europe). Thistle
has 33 hotels across the country, many in superb city centre locations,
including eleven London hotels (
www.thistle.com/en/group/find_a_hotel.html?searchby=city&city=London)
and Hotels near Dartford (
www.thistle.com/en/hotels/united_kingdom/dartford/thistle_brands_hatch/index.html).

Thistle Hotels also offer wedding venues near Dartford (
www.thistle.com/en/hotels/united_kingdom/dartford/thistle_brands_hatch/weddings/index.html).
With a selection of restaurants and a choice of
excellent health and leisure facilities, Thistle has something to offer
everyone.

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:
    Kymberley Hill
    Head of Public Relations
    Guoman & Thistle Hotels
    The Grosvenor
    101 Buckingham Palace Road
    London
    SW1W 0SJ
    +44(0)20-7868-6322

www.thistle.com

PR Contact: Kymberley Hill, Head of Public Relations, Guoman & Thistle Hotels, The Grosvenor, 101 Buckingham Palace Road, London, SW1W 0SJ, +44(0)20-7868-6322