ANDERSON, SC – For travelers on the road throughout the Southeast, hotel owned and managed by Paragon Hotel Company provide a home away from home. For some folks on the ropes with no home at all, hotel-company employees have pitched in to build a place to call home.

On one chilly Valentine’s Day, more than a dozen handy and helpful Paragon Hotel Company volunteers sidled up with Habitat for Humanity to add the finishing touches to one of 18 new Habitat homes in an Anderson subdivision.

With hammers, ladders, smiles and a little supervision from Habitat’s construction pros, PHC volunteers added sleek off-white siding to the brand-new house that will go to a deserving family.

“It was cold out that day, but it was totally worth it,” says Deesha Patel, talent management for Paragon Hotel Company, whose headquarters sits only 20 minutes away from Habitat’s River Trace subdivision. “Habitat is a world-class charity that gave us and our employees an opportunity to ‘give back’ in our own backyard.”

Habitat for Humanity of Anderson County couldn’t have been happier with PHC’s performance. “We want people to experience the great joy in helping a family reach a goal that was seen as unattainable,” says Habitat Anderson’s executive director Libby Winkler. “The Paragon family of volunteers did just that, and came through for a family that needs safe, affordable housing.”

For more information about the company, visit http://www.phc-hotels.com.

About Paragon Hotel Company

Founded in 1995, PHC is a hospitality real estate management and development company based in Anderson, SC. The company’s vision, “constantly challenging the status quo,” complements its mission to acquire, develop and manage a portfolio of unique properties and lifestyle experiences for the enjoyment of our guests, while delivering exceptional financial results to investors and positively impacting the surrounding communities. The company’s portfolio of more than 2,100 rooms in South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia and Tennessee includes hotels within Hilton, Marriott, Intercontinental, Best Western, Choice, Carlson Hotels Worldwide and Wyndham Worldwide franchises.

ANDERSON, SC – Once a destination for outdoor enthusiasts, a onetime boat dealership now harbors Paragon Hotel Company’s headquarters in America’s Electric City.

The expansive hotel-management and development company spent $1,200,000 to transform the former Boater’s World building at 109 Destination Blvd. into an upscale office for its 14 employees.

“When we toured the site, we fell in love with the glass-and-block shell, as well as the location, which is close to Lake Hartwell – one of the Upstate’s most beautiful gems,” says Mitesh Patel, PHC’s executive vice president. “Inside, we designed an open, collaborative space for our staff,” Patel says, “because forward-thinking doesn’t always originate around a boa rdroom table.”

After a 10-month renovation, the building now features audiovisual conferencing capabilities and multifunctional training rooms with state-of-the-art technology. The facility also showcases PHC’s dedication to sustainability, with cutting-edge lighting and thermostat controls and 30 percent reduction in water usage.

Located just off Interstate 85, the major artery that connects Charlotte, NC, to Atlanta, Ga., and points west, Anderson was the first city in the United States to have a continuous supply of electric power, hence its nickname, “Electric City.”

“We’re proud to help power the economic growth of this community,” Patel says, noting that Anderson also was named an All-America City in 2008 and was the filming location for George Clooney’s 2008 movie, Leatherheads.

The building at 109 Destination Blvd. was renovated by Workman Corp and designed by G.16 Group Architects. The interior design was done by StudioRouge Interiors who has done multiple space planning and design services for PHC’s growing portfolio of hotels. For more information about the company, visit http://www.phc-hotels.com.

About Paragon Hotel Company

Founded in 1995, PHC is a hospitality real estate management and development company based in Anderson, SC. The company’s vision, “constantly challenging the status quo,” complements its mission to acquire, develop and manage a portfolio of unique properties and lifestyle experiences for the enjoyment of our guests, while delivering exceptional financial results to investors and positively impacting the surrounding communities. The company’s portfolio of more than 2,100 rooms in South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia and Tennessee includes hotels within Hilton, Marriott, Intercontinental, Best Western, Choice, Carlson Hotels Worldwide and Wyndham Worldwide franchises.

ANDERSON, SOUTH CAROLINA – Among nearly 5,000 hotels in InterContinental Hotels Group’s properties scattered in more than 100 countries, the Holiday Inn in Anderson, SC has earned one of IHG’s top prizes: the Torchbearer Award.

“The Torchbearer Award is given to hotels that have achieved the highest level of excellence in all aspects of operation – from quality to customer satisfaction,” says Kirk Kinsell, IHG’s President, The Americas. “Created to honor the best of the best, as measured by our guests, this award is presented to hotels that raise the bar even further. These outstanding hotels ‘carry our torch’ and represent the highest achievement in quality and service.”

Alongside the worldwide distinction, the hotel has also earned the Quality of Excellence Award, the second-highest prize in IHG. The Holiday Inn, located at 3509 Clemson Blvd., Anderson, S.C., belongs to the Paragon Hotel Company portfolio.

“We’re enormously proud of this award and of this hotel and our associates who have worked so hard to earn the honor and to earn the loyalty and satisfaction of their guests,” says Ricky Patel, CEO of PHC, whose headquarters are only a five-minute drive from the hotel.

“It’s fantastic, of course, to earn such a prestigious honor in our own backyard, but it’s especially gratifying that the Torchbearer Award is a global distinction,” says Cindy Boyer, the hotel’s general manager. “We’re a hometown hotel, and now we’re known all over the world!”

Because the Torchbearer Award is based on customer satisfaction, the Holiday Inn Anderson points to one of its many five-star reviews. J. Potter, a guest from the Dallas, TX, suburb of Flower Mound, says: “We were immediately greeted with the Southern hospitality that people have always heard about. … We enjoyed our quiet and relaxing stay so much that we have already begun planning to return with our children and other family members in the next few months.

Paragon Hotel Company’s portfolio includes two hotels in the IHG family. For more information about Paragon Hotel Company, visit http://www.phc-hotels.com.

About Paragon Hotel Company

Founded in 1995, PHC is a hospitality real estate management and development company based in Anderson, SC. The company’s vision, “constantly challenging the status quo,” complements its mission to acquire, develop and manage a portfolio of unique properties and lifestyle experiences for the enjoyment of our guests, while delivering exceptional financial results to investors and positively impacting the surrounding communities. The company’s portfolio of more than 2,100 rooms in South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia and Tennessee includes hotels within Hilton, Marriott, Intercontinental, Best Western, Choice, Carlson Hotels Worldwide and Wyndham Worldwide franchises.

ANDERSON, SOUTH CAROLINA – During a balmy September week, some two dozen General Managers and Directors of Sales for Paragon Hotel Company got impressive first impressions … about first impressions.

Beginning with a red-carpet reception, PHC played host to its hotel leaders in a four-day conference, “First Impressions: Impress The Guest.” In fact, on the first evening, PHC’s guests were the guests of honor, dressed to impress in their best black-and-white finery.

Conferees then discussed such topics as: impressing guests to improve service scores; having morning huddles; shop calls to book test rooms; and how the Front Desk reacts to the call.

And let’s not forget the pickle.

Participants learned about sales guru Bob Farrell’s customer-service techniques: “Give ’em the pickle.” Farrell, a New York orphan turned ice cream-parlor magnate, tells about how a disappointed customer once told him he would never return to Farrell’s restaurant because the waitress had refused to give her guest an additional pickle with his hamburger. Farrell parlayed that lesson into a motivational program inspiring hospitality staff to always give the guest the “extra pickle” – whatever that might be.

“We also talked about how to seize the day by ‘seizing the guests,’ ” says Deesha Patel, PHC’s director of Corporate and Investor Relations who led one of the first workshops: impressing guests through connecting with them and through team-building.

In addition to associates, the most impressive feature of any hotel is … the hotel. A full three hours detailed spotless guest rooms and maintaining properties with non-stop preventive maintenance.

And at the end? PHC’s management impressed their own guests with a question-and-answer session that solicited comments, suggestions and ideas, empowering the team and building leaders.

For more information about Paragon Hotel Company, visit http://www.phc-hotels.com.

About Paragon Hotel Company

Founded in 1995, PHC is a hospitality real estate management and development company based in Anderson, SC. The company’s vision, “constantly challenging the status quo,” complements its mission to acquire, develop and manage a portfolio of unique properties and lifestyle experiences for the enjoyment of our guests, while delivering exceptional financial results to investors and positively impacting the surrounding communities. The company’s portfolio of more than 2,100 rooms in South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia and Tennessee includes hotels within Hilton, Marriott, Intercontinental, Best Western, Choice, Carlson Hotels Worldwide and Wyndham Worldwide franchises.

OAK RIDGE, TENNESSEE – The home of one of the nation’s largest science-and-energy laboratories is now home to first LEED Gold Certified hotel in Tennessee in recognition for its modern and efficient blueprint.

Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) recognizes construction that encourages sustainability, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory has just opened its $8.85 million Guest House built to those rigorous specifications. Paragon Hotel Company manages the award-winning 47-room overnight lodging facility for the United States Department of Energy.

The ORNL Guest House, at 8640 Nano Center Drive, opened exclusively for scientists who visit the U.S. Department of Energy’s laboratory in eastern Tennessee. While the lab, with its $1.65 billion budget, employs 4,400 people, it also draws some 3,000 research guests annually.

“The scientists who come and stay with us at the ORNL Guest House are among the most brilliant minds in the world,” says Mitesh Patel, executive vice president of Paragon Hotel Company, which also operates the Comfort Inn in the nearby town of Oak Ridge. “And the fact that the Guest House has been certified ‘Gold’ for its environmentally sound construction and design—that all makes this particular property a special member of the PHC family.”

Oak Ridge National Laboratory was born in 1942 on an isolated farm as part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer’s fabled Manhattan Project. During World War II, the super-secret project developed America’s atomic bombs. Today, ORNL scientists solve challenges in energy, security and physics.

“Paragon Hotel Co. is enormously proud to be part of the nation’s scientific and national- security infrastructure,” Patel says. For more information about Paragon Hotel Company, visit http://www.phc-hotels.com.

About Paragon Hotel Company

Founded in 1995, PHC is a hospitality real estate management and development company based in Anderson, SC. The company’s vision, “constantly challenging the status quo,” complements its mission to acquire, develop and manage a portfolio of unique properties and lifestyle experiences for the enjoyment of our guests, while delivering exceptional financial results to investors and positively impacting the surrounding communities. The company’s portfolio of more than 2,100 rooms in South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia and Tennessee includes hotels within Hilton, Marriott, Intercontinental, Best Western, Choice, Carlson Hotels Worldwide and Wyndham Worldwide franchises.

ANDERSON, SC – Busy executives don’t always mix business with pleasure, but that’s precisely what the Hampton Inn Anderson/Alliance Business Park provides, with all-the-comforts-of-home amenities surrounded by a world of fun things to do in South Carolina’s booming Upstate.

Only six miles from the glittering waters of Lake Hartwell, the new member of the Paragon Hotel Company family sits in the heart of the Upstate’s expansive manufacturing corridor – minutes from Clemson and Anderson universities and equally close to golf, boating, hiking, picnicking, shopping and terrific restaurants.

“This property has it all,” says Ryan Tilden, general manager of the hotel at 411 Alliance Parkway, just off the heavily traveled Interstate 85 that connects Charlotte, NC, to Greenville, SC, to Atlanta, Ga. “We provide high-quality accommodations backed by the 100 Percent Hampton Satisfaction Guarantee, plus all the great things to do that are absolutely everywhere around us.”

Highlighting each property’s area connections, hotels are infused with local photography and artwork; hotel websites emphasize local flavor, providing unique content on such topics of interest as area attractions, historical facts and fun things to see and do around town: http://www.andersonalliancebusinesspark.hamptoninn.com.

In her five-star review, visitor Stacy B. from Atlanta writes: “Whether you are in Anderson on business or just passing through along the I-85 corridor, this is the hotel to rest and recharge. The breakfasts are creative and filling. The attendant suggested added the oatmeal toppings to my waffle, and it was off the chain. … Here’s the kicker, the attendant prepared my waffle while I sat and waited. Everybody is super friendly!”

Homewood Suites Greenville belongs to the Hilton brand that J.D. Power & Associates have awarded “Highest in Guest Satisfaction among Extended Stay Hotel Chains” four years in a row, and the Greenville hotel is part of Paragon Hotel Company’s property portfolio. For more information about the company, visit http://www.phc-hotels.com.

The 79-room Hampton Inn Alliance Business Parkway is owned by Ress Investment, LLC (a subsidiary of Paragon Hotel Company). For more information about the company, visit http://www.phc-hotels.com.

About Paragon Hotel Company

Founded in 1995, PHC is a hospitality real estate management and development company based in Anderson, SC. The company’s vision, “constantly challenging the status quo,” complements its mission to acquire, develop and manage a portfolio of unique properties and lifestyle experiences for the enjoyment of our guests, while delivering exceptional financial results to investors and positively impacting the surrounding communities. The company’s portfolio of more than 2,100 rooms in South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia and Tennessee includes hotels within Hilton, Marriott, Intercontinental, Best Western, Choice, Carlson Hotels Worldwide and Wyndham Worldwide franchises.

GREENVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA – Talk about ducky.

Paragon Hotel Company’s intensive General Managers Conference, held in the Upstate’s metropolitan gem on a beautiful May weekend, covered big-ticket issues such as the rollout of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs); revenue management; and Front Desk sales strategies.

The event also left plenty of room for fun since the conference was scheduled on the same weekend of Greenville’s annual Duck Derby, a daylong festival for children and families that featured food, games and rubber ducks. Ten thousand of them, to be precise – all released into the Reedy River that cascades through the heart of downtown. The event raised more than $16,000, distributed to 12 charities, including those that work to eradicate polio, serve the homeless and help a baseball team for children with disabilities.

At the conference itself, participants enjoyed their share of fun, too, with a Circle of Excellence Awards ceremony and a reception for PHC vendors.

“Sure we worked hard at the conference,” says Mitesh Patel, executive vice president of Paragon Hotel Company, “but we also got to have a great time. The Duck Derby drew thousands of people, and the event benefited so many charitable organizations. And that speaks directly to one of our company’s major priorities: community outreach.”

As PHC’s website indicates, “We believe that as a corporate citizen, PHC should always participate in and contribute to greater causes beyond our specific mission. Not only have we monetarily contributed to an abundant amount of organizations, we also have actively participated in events and initiatives that clearly enforce our commitment to making neighborhoods safer, healthier places for everyone.”

With the conference’s revenue-intensive topics – from SOPs to sales strategies – participants also were immersed in another of the company’s driving forces: to provide “enduring achievements resulting in long-term profitability” for investors.

For more information about Paragon Hotel Company, visit http://www.phc-hotels.com.

About Paragon Hotel Company

Founded in 1995, PHC is a hospitality real estate management and development company based in Anderson, SC. The company’s vision, “constantly challenging the status quo,” complements its mission to acquire, develop and manage a portfolio of unique properties and lifestyle experiences for the enjoyment of our guests, while delivering exceptional financial results to investors and positively impacting the surrounding communities. The company’s portfolio of more than 2,100 rooms in South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia and Tennessee includes hotels within Hilton, Marriott, Intercontinental, Best Western, Choice, Carlson Hotels Worldwide and Wyndham Worldwide franchises.