More than a hotel room – A “Giving Room”

Preferred Hotel Group, in cooperation with participating member hotels and resorts, has announced that 56 member hotels worldwide will participate in this year’s “The Giving Room,” more than triple that from last year. From May 1 through August 31, for every night a hotel’s designated “Giving Room” is occupied, 10 per cent of the selected room or suite’s revenue will be donated to the hotel’s charity of choice.

At the conclusion of the program, donations will be matched by funds from the Ueberroth Family Foundation.

“The Giving Room” is an outgrowth of Preferred Hotel Group’s GIFTTS program which stands for Great Initiatives for Today’s (Tomorrow’s) Society, a recognition initiative launched in August 2006. Designed to acknowledge and encourage socially responsible actions by member hotels and employees in the areas of philanthropy, environment and community service (phggiftts.com), GIFTTS applauds great ideas for effecting positive change at the local level.

“In honor of Preferred Hotel Group’s 40th Anniversary, our goal for this year’s “Giving Room” program was to enlist participation from at least 40 members worldwide,” said John Ueberroth, Chairman and CEO, Preferred Hotel Group.

“Once again our members have risen to the occasion. We are humbled to see the global dedication to philanthropic endeavors both by our members and their guests.”

In its inaugural year, “The Giving Room” raised nearly $20,000 in total donations for charitable organizations in seven countries and generated nearly $100,000 in room revenue for participating hotels. From India to Peru, the United States to the Netherlands, the 2008 “Giving Room” program will provide aide to communities in 18 countries around the globe. One hotel group in particular, the Eden Hotel Group has committed all 16 of its hotels in the Netherlands to the program.

“At the Eden Hotel Group, we always try act responsibly and in the best interest of our guests, hotels, environment and our staff,” said Frans Wientjes, Director of Operations, Eden Hotel Group.

“This initiative from Preferred Hotel Group exactly matches our own objectives and social responsibility goals. As a group we will support one charity – The Hunger Project. “The Giving Room” enables us to achieve awareness as well as funds for The Hunger Project. And the fact that the Ueberroth Family Foundation doubles the outcome is just wonderful.”

Members’ charitable choices span the globe and include projects such as Singapore’s ‘Community Chest’ and ‘Seva Mandir,’ a volunteer organization in Rajasthan, India that assists in the development of rural and tribal issues. In the United States, charities such as the Clearwater Marine Aquarium of Clearwater, Florida and the Susan B. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation are among the designated beneficiaries.

“We consider that it is everyone’s responsibility to help others grow in our global economy,” said Bruno Chiaruttini, Director of Sales & Marketing at the Majestic Hotel Group.

"The Majestic Hotel Group with its emblematic hotels in Barcelona and Paris is participating once again in the Giving Room initiative undertaken by the Preferred Hotel Group. We have decided to support again this year Intermon Oxfam who has been conducting programs in communities around the world focusing on long term development mainly through work and education.”

For more information on participating hotels or to book “The Giving Room”, guests may visit Phggiftts.com.