Ascend Hotel Collection Honors Wyvern Hotel With 'Ascending Community Service Award'

ROCKVILLE, Md., Oct. 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Choice Hotels International, Inc.'s (NYSE: CHH) Ascend Hotel Collection^®, a global portfolio of resort, boutique and historic hotels, honored the Wyvern Hotel in Punta Gorda, Florida, with its "Ascending Community Service Award." To celebrate the award, representatives from Choice Hotels, Edgewater Group LLC, hotel staff and local dignitaries attended a ceremony last week at the hotel, where the Wyvern Hotel presented a $1,000 donation to Back Pack Kidz, a local charity dedicated to feeding hungry children, along with a $1,000 match by Choice Hotels. The Ascend Hotel Collection's continued growth in 2021 sets the stage to expand the brand's positive impact on the communities they serve. Additional contributions of $500 each were made by the Wyvern Hotel to the Visual Arts Center and Military Heritage Museum.

The Ascending Community Service Award is annually presented to a hotel team or individual who has gone above and beyond to drive performance at the hotel while also being a partner in contributing to the betterment of the community that they are part of. The Wyvern Hotel received the award for its efforts to support local children's charities, like Back Pack Kidz, as well as the arts community. As part of these efforts, the property works with the Visual Arts Center to feature local artists' work in the hotel every six months.

"The Ascend Hotel Collection is known for offering guests an authentically local stay. As part of that, it's important that hotels are also committed to serving the communities where they work and live," said Janis Cannon, senior vice president, upscale brands, Choice Hotels. "We look forward to welcoming more hotels like the Wyvern into our portfolio. Not only does the property represent the best of Ascend and its unparalleled upscale experience with a rooftop bar and restaurant with scenic water views that are favorites with local residents, but they are deeply engaged and embedded into the fabric of the community and support a variety of children's and arts organizations — which is exactly why this hotel is so deserving of the Ascending Community Service Award."

Located at 101 East Retta Esplanade, the Wyvern Hotel offers a chic boutique experience in Florida's Gulf Coast region, featuring European-inspired decor and upscale amenities, including a Perch360 rooftop lounge and a heated rooftop pool overlooking the picturesque waters of Charlotte Harbor. The hotel is just a 15-minute walk from downtown, which features a variety of shopping, dining and entertainment options, with Englewood Beach only 30-minutes' drive away.

"We're honored to win the Ascending Community Service Award for our efforts in the local arts and children's communities. Service is at the core of everything we do in the hospitality industry, whether it's providing a stellar experience for guests at our hotel or being a good teammate in the community," said Ketan Vora, founding partner, Edgewater Group. "When we signed up to be a part of Ascend, we knew it was a good match given all the tools and resources they provide to improve our return on investment, but what we didn't know was how much our values aligned on being positive community members, in addition to providing a first-class upscale stay for travelers."

The Ascend Hotel Collection has nearly 390 hotels open around the globe as of June 30, 2021. In the second quarter of this year, Ascend combined with Cambria Hotels to set a Choice Hotels record for upscale domestic openings in the first half of a year, including 22 properties added as part of the company's strategic alliance with Penn National Gaming. In the last few months alone, Ascend has welcomed new hotels from the Eastern Shore of Maryland to the scenic mountains in the southeast corner of New Mexico.

Ascend hotel guests can participate in the award-winning Choice Privileges loyalty program, rated a top hotel loyalty program by both USA Today's 10Best Readers' Choice Awards and U.S. News & World Report. Choice Privileges membership is free and offers fast rewards and exclusive member rates for those who book directly at www.choicehotels.com.

All Choice-branded hotels are participating in Commitment to Clean, an initiative that builds upon the strong foundation of franchisees' longstanding dedication to cleanliness with enhanced training and best practices for cleaning, disinfecting and social distancing. For more information on Commitment to Clean, visit https://www.choicehotels.com/about/commitment-to-clean-hotels.

Ascend Hotel Collection^®: Let the Destination Reach You.
The Ascend Hotel Collection global portfolio of independent resort, historic and boutique hotels is part of Choice Hotels, one of the world's largest leading hotel companies. Recognized as the hotel industry's first "soft brand" concept, there are nearly 390 Ascend Hotel Collection properties worldwide as of June 30, 2021, including in France, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Australia, Canada, Ecuador, and throughout Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America. Membership with the Ascend Hotel Collection enables distinctive, independent properties to gain a global presence while maintaining their local charm. For more information, visit www.choicehotels.com/ascend.   

About Choice Hotels^®
Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE: CHH) is one of the largest lodging franchisors in the world. With more than 7,100 hotels, representing over 600,000 rooms, in nearly 40 countries and territories as of June 30, 2021, the Choice^® family of hotel brands provides business and leisure travelers with a range of high-quality lodging options from limited service to full-service hotels in the upscale, midscale, extended-stay and economy segments. The award-winning Choice Privileges^® loyalty program offers members benefits ranging from everyday rewards to exceptional experiences. For more information, visit www.choicehotels.com.  

About Edgewater Group LLC
Founded in 2008, Edgewater Group LLC is a boutique multidisciplinary real estate firm that provides distressed advisory, management and value-add investment services. Edgewater's unique focus is on the micro and middle market segments in secondary and tertiary locations in the United States. For more information, visit www.edgewatergrpllc.com

Forward-Looking Statement
This communication includes "forward-looking statements" about future events, including future development and anticipated hotel openings. Such statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including construction delays, availability and cost of financing and the other "Risk Factors" described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, any of which could cause actual results to be materially different from our expectations. 

© 2021 Choice Hotels International, Inc. All rights reserved.

SOURCE Choice Hotels International, Inc.