Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, February 24, 1995                   TAG: 9502240079
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

HOTEL ROANOKE'S MANAGERS LAUNCH DREAMY AD CAMPAIGN

Doubletree Hotels Corp. on Thursday unveiled a $31 million marketing campaign and a new logo for its 104 hotels conceived with help from a dream expert.

The campaign should help attract business for the Hotel Roanoke by reminding a national audience of Doubletree's toll-free reservation system, on which Hotel Roanoke appears, said Doubletree spokeswoman Sheila Schofield.

To preserve its identity as a popular historic landmark, Hotel Roanoke won't be fully decked in the new Doubletree moniker and company name when it reopens April 3. On the letterhead, for instance, the Doubletree name will appear in small letters beneath "The Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center."

Still, the Phoenix, Ariz., hotel management company will oversee all aspects of running the hotel and conference center, down to selection of bedding and distribution of its big chocolate-chip cookies to guests, a Doubletree tradition.

Doubletree officials think talking about dreams could punch up the corporation's advertising, which before now has focused on the physical comforts of the stay. Since Sunday, Doubletree has aired two of its new commercials built around the dream theme.

One shows a bird's-eye view of mountains beneath the superimposed words, "Your suite was spacious;" a coral reef jutting up from the sea floor beneath the words, "You loved the pool;" and Doubletree employees bowing beneath the words, "The staff was accommodating." The other shows a man rowing a boat, kids romping on a bed and other upbeat images.

"These commercials are saying that the Doubletree guest experience is so satisfying that it produces sweet dreams," said Thomas Storey, the chain's executive vice president of sales and marketing, in a prepared release. "By focusing on feelings, our new campaign represents a breakthrough strategy that will distinguish us from the competition."

Company officials are consulting with a sleep expert, William Dement, professor of psychiatry at Stanford University, about angles for expanding the advertising campaign, Schofield said.

The campaign's price tag is nearly three times Doubletree's profits of $12.6 million last year. The ads coincide with the renaming of 34 Guest Quarters Suites Hotels - mostly in the Eastern United States and acquired by Doubletree in 1993 - as Doubletree Guest Suites. Guest Quarters, aimed mostly at corporate travelers, combine a place to sleep with a small kitchen and living room.

The company said the marketing moves will help it compete better with Marriot, Hilton, Hyatt and Sheraton hotels.

And the Doubletree cookies will figure prominently in its advertising. One print ad headlines them: "Our version of the sleeping pill."