MARKET METRIX ANNOUNCES FOURTH QUARTER 2004 HOSPITALITY INDEX RESULTS

-- Wingate Inns, Midwest Airlines and Enterprise Rent-A-Car
Take Top Industry Categories --

SAN RAFAEL, Calif. - February 1, 2005 -- Market Metrix, LLC, the leading provider of market research services for the hospitality industry, today announced results of the Market Metrix Hospitality Index (MMHI) for the fourth quarter of 2004. Wingate Inns, Midwest Airlines and Enterprise Rent-A-Car ranked number one in hotel, airline and rental car industry customer satisfaction, respectively. For the first time, a mid-scale (without food and beverage) hotel company, Wingate Inns, has placed first in the hotel category. Among airlines, for the second consecutive quarter, Midwest Airlines is in the top spot while Enterprise continues to dominate in the rental car category.

Highlights from Q4 2004 MMHI Data

Wingate Inns, an all-new construction hotel chain, has dazzled its guests and created a devoted following. According to guests Wingate Inns provides "amenities comparable to a 5-star hotel", "awesome telecommunications", "oversized rooms" and "a free breakfast that is out of this world!" With employees that "smile, call you by name, and ask if there is anything you need" they are delivering "superior customer service unmatched in the hospitality industry".

Among hotels, the highest customer satisfaction ratings went to Wingate Inns (91.2), Walt Disney World Resorts (90.5) and Drury Inns (90.4). Overall, Luxury Hotels received the highest ratings (87) with Extended Stay guests reporting the second highest levels (86.4). W Hotels won the Luxury category for the second time and Walt Disney World Resorts continues to dominate the Upper Upscale segment.

Analysis of results revealed a continued increase in bookings on hotel sites and a boost in loyalty program membership. These findings suggest that customers are becoming more loyal and doing less shopping around.

• Membership in hotel loyalty programs has been steadily climbing. Since the third quarter of 2002, 34 percent more guests report being members of hotel frequent sleeper programs.

• Increasing loyalty program membership appears to have made a substantial impact on guest loyalty in non-casino hotels. The percentage of guests reporting that they are very likely to return has increased 6 percentage points since the third quarter of 2002.

• Hotels have succeeded in winning bookings away from such leading websites as Expedia and Orbitz. Increasing their share of web bookings by nearly 30% in the last five quarters, Hotel websites now capture 15% of all Internet bookings. The top 3 non-casino hotel websites (in terms of capturing reservations of their own guests) include: Staybridge, Candlewood and Extended StayAmerica.

MMHI Top-Hospitality Rankings Q4 2004

Hotel
Wingate Inns

Airline
Midwest Airlines

Car Rental
Enterprise Rent-A-Car

Luxury
W Hotels

Upper Upscale
Walt Disney World Resorts

Upscale
SpringHill Suites

Midscale w/ F&B
Four Points

Midscale w/o F&B
Wingate Inns

Economy
Jameson Inns

Extended Stay
Staybridge

Casino
Isle of Capri

Upscale Casino
Bellagio

Hotel Reservations Website - Hotel Brand
Wyndham

Hotel Reservations Website - Travel
Yahoo! Travel

(w/o F&B = without food & beverage)

About MMHI
The Market Metrix Hospitality Index is a quarterly report of customer satisfaction with hotel, airline and car rental companies based on 35,000 in-depth consumer interviews. The MMHI ranks top hospitality brands by industry and, for hotels, by categories such as luxury, mid-price and economy. Detailed, in-depth and customized reports are available for subscribers. No other customer satisfaction index offers MMHI's reporting frequency, volume of customer interviews, cross-industry results or innovative satisfaction measures.

About Market Metrix
Market Metrix, LLC was founded in 1996 by partners Jonathan Barsky, Ph.D., and Lenny Nash to provide the hospitality industry with better customer and employee satisfaction measurement programs and management tools. In addition to MMHI, Market Metrix provides clients with award-winning survey systems and strategic services. Market Metrix also operates the Consumer Research Center, which provides focus group services, data entry services and a state-of-the-art specialty call center. Based in San Rafael, Calif., Market Metrix is partner-owned and has 50 employees. For more information, log onto www.marketmetrix.com or call 1-800-239-7515.

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Contact:
Dara Franz
Market Metrix
tel 415-721-1300
fax 415-721-1314
http://www.marketmetrix.com