Naples, Fla. (Jan. 4, 2002) ) - John E. Ayres and Lee R. Weeks, Naples-based hotel entrepreneurs with extensive five-star management experience, have merged Coral Beach Hotels & Resorts and The Coral Beach Club Company, formerly separate companies with shared ownership, to create Coral Beach Hotels & Clubs, a hospitality management and investment company with a portfolio of hotels and country clubs in South Florida and the Caribbean.

Lee R. Weeks, founder of The Coral Beach Club Company, is president and chief operating office of the new company. John E. Ayres is chairman.

Coral Beach Hotels & Clubs specializes in "turnarounds," an industry term described as the revival of languishing, undervalued properties located in strategic growth destinations.

The company's management team transforms the properties into profitable enterprises with distinctive character and style, deluxe environments and first-class service.

Weeks and Ayres bring a history of successful turnarounds to their new venture. In Vero Beach, Ayres' company doubled the net operating income of the Palm Court Resort Hotel after one year. In Naples, his company manages Hotel Escalante, which exceeded industry expectations for a hotel's first year of operation.

Lee Weeks's club company transformed Naples' Arrowhead Golf and Country Club from a stagnant operation into a thriving and profitable one. For Eagle Creek Golf and Country Club, also in Naples, Weeks employed revenue enhancement and expense reduction strategies, resulting in $300,000 in savings after the first year of Coral Beach Club management.

By combining their two companies under one roof, Ayres and Weeks bring an incomparable depth and breadth of hospitality expertise to the country clubs and hotels in their portfolio.

In addition, their country clubs now enjoy the high levels of service and ambience found at fine hotels throughout the world, and new profitability due to yield management practices. In select locations, hotel guests and country club members enjoy reciprocal privileges such as special rates, preferred reservations and advance tee times.

"Our clientele demands the same high standards from our country clubs as from our hotels," said Weeks. "We apply to our hotel and club operations the hospitality principles that are consistent with the stringent guidelines used by Mobil and AAA for their hotel ratings. The result is enhanced service levels."

Coral Beach Hotels & Clubs' eight hotels and three clubs are each one-of-a-kind properties with distinctive architecture and design and an ambience that reflects its locale. Although each Coral Beach property is unique, they all share friendly, warm, customer-driven service.

The company manages Highland Woods Golf and Country Club in Bonita Springs; Hotel Escalante, Arrowhead Golf Club and Eagle Creek Golf & Country Club in Naples; Chesapeake Resort in Islamorada, in the Florida Keys; Casa Ybel on Sanibel Island; the Blue Moon Hotel, the WinterHaven Hotel, and Essex House Hotel & Suites in South Beach; and the Palm Court Resort and Vero Ocean Suites in Vero Beach.

Coral Beach Hotels & Clubs's current growth plan includes the development of a Caribbean division, beginning with their newest property, the Royal West Indies in Providenciales, Turks & Caicos. In addition, Ayres and Weeks are entertaining proposals from prospective investors and independent property owners who have witnessed the company's successful turnarounds.

"The challenge," said Ayres, "is expand our portfolio while maintaining the high quality expected by our growing clientele."

Ayres and Weeks together bring six decades of hotel and club experience to their new venture. They have held key positions at such stellar hotels as the Breakers in Palm Beach; Grand Wailea Resort & Spa in Wailea, Hawaii; the Ritz-Carlton and Edgewater Beach Hotel in Naples, and Atlantis Resort & Casino on Paradise Island in The Bahamas.

The hotels managed by Coral Beach are marketed under the banner of the Coral Collection of Fine Hotels & Resorts, whose president is Miami-based Chuck Katan. The group of small boutique-style hotels is positioned as an alternative to large chain hotels, brands and franchises for business and leisure travelers.

Contact John E. Ayres and Lee R. Weeks at Coral Beach Hotels & Clubs, 1400 Gulf Shore Blvd. N., Suite 200, Naples, FL 34102. Phone 239-430-0600. Website www.coralhospitality.com.