Golden Tulip Welcomes 5th Hotel In Romania

Amersfoort (NL) / Lausanne (CH) February 2007 - Golden Tulip Hospitality is proud to announce the signing of a franchise agreement for the Tulip Inn Sunny Hill in Cluj Napoca, Romania. The agreement enters into effect as per April 1st 2007.

The Tulip Inn Sunny Hill is the first hotel flagging the Tulip Inn brand outside the capital of Romania, in the Transylvanian city of Cluj Napoca which has one of the highest economical growth rates.

The newly built Tulip Inn Sunny Hill opened its doors in December, after an approx. EUR 5 M investment. In the near future, the hotel will expand through the addition of another building adding 50 extra rooms to the hotel (investment estimated at EUR 3.9 million).

The agreement signing ceremony and press conference took place in Cluj Napoca and included the attendance of among others; Mr. Haike Blaauw, Vice-President Commercial Services of Golden Tulip Hospitality, Ms. Rodica Tusa, owner of the Tulip Inn Sunny Hill and Mr. Paul Marasoiu, Area Director Romania, Bulgaria & Moldova of Golden Tulip Hotels, Inns & Resorts.

Mr. Hans Kennedie, President and C.E.O. of Golden Tulip Hospitality states: “We are proud to add the Tulip Inn Sunny Hill to our family of Golden Tulip Hotels, Inns & Resorts. Our expansion efforts in Eastern Europe are showing good returns, we have welcomed five hotels in Romania and entered new markets like Bulgaria and Armenia in the past two years. We are looking towards developing hotels (both under franchise and management) in more destinations in this growing region in the near future”

Ms. Rodica Tusa, owner of Tulip Inn Sunny Hill declares: “Our decision to become an affiliate of the internationally appreciated Golden Tulip hotel chain came after a thorough analysis of franchise proposals from various world leading chains. We found that Golden Tulip’s offer guarantees us the best return on investment and the most suitable concept for our property. We look with great confidence to the future of the Tulip Inn brand, while we are planning to expand the hotel with 50 extra rooms and additional facilities in the near future, paying the same attention to quality, design and guest care.”

Mr. Paul Marasoiu, Area Director Romania, Bulgaria & Moldova of Golden Tulip adds: “It is a great satisfaction that we expand towards the countryside, in Cluj Napoca, the city with the highest rates of increasing hotel and business investments. The recently-built Tulip Inn Sunny Hill, with its refined design and full compliance with the international standards, promises to become soon a new professional landmark on the local hotel market.”

In the Eastern European region, Golden Tulip’s current hotel portfolio consists of 11 hotels with over 1350 rooms in Romania (5), Czech Republic (2), Croatia (1), Bulgaria (1), Hungary (1) and Armenia (1).

About the Tulip Inn Sunny Hill
The hotel is situated in a beautiful natural environment, yet very easily accessible through the European Road E60, at the expanding commercial city limit, 20 minutes away from the Cluj Airport and 10 minutes from the city center.

The stylish and exquisite three-star Tulip Inn Sunny Hill offers facilities designed both for the business and leisure traveler. The hotel offers 50 rooms: 40 double, 5 twin, 2 standard suites and 2 deluxe suites with up-to-date amenities, such as air conditioning, mini-bar, safe box, cable TV, telephone, Internet connection, individual bathroom. A conference centre is available with the largest meeting room accommodating up to 160 persons and endowed with the latest multimedia technologies.3 food & beverage units: a banqueting area of up to 160 seats, a 120-seat classical restaurant with original fireplaces and a rustic terrace and restaurant facing the forest and hills, with 80 indoor seats. Further facilities and services include; room-service, laundry, minibus airport transfer and free-parking.

About the Golden Tulip Hospitality Group
Golden Tulip Hospitality Group with its head offices in Amersfoort, The Netherlands and Lausanne, Switzerland, is a worldwide hospitality company with more than 630 hotels, 58.000 rooms in more than 49 countries. The Golden Tulip Hospitality Group franchises and manages hotels in Europe, the Middle East & Africa, the Asian Pacific Region and the Americas. In 2006, Hotels Magazine has ranked this company the 18th largest hotel chain.
As a multi-brand hospitality firm, the Golden Tulip Hospitality Group offers services in the two, three, four and five star categories. On the two-star side Golden Tulip has an alliance with the French B&B hotel chain. The three-star concept is the Tulip Inn for the limited-service first-class category, the four-star category falls under the Golden Tulip brand for the Superior First-Class business and Resort hotels and the recently introduced five-star concept Royal Tulip. In addition Golden Tulip offers its services through its commercial alliance with TOP International, a German based hotel consortium.

In the fall of 2006, Golden Tulip introduced BRANCHE, Restaurant, Bar and Lounge. This is a free standing restaurant chain, which will have establishments in most Golden Tulip Hotels and Tulip Inns operated by Golden Tulip.