Consumer >> CEO Interviews >> November 10, 1998
J. PETER KLINE is Chairman and CEO of Dallas-based Bristol Hotels &
Resorts (NYSE: BH), the largest hotel operator in North America. Bristol
also operates the largest number of Bass Hotels & Resorts branded hotels
in the world. The company's more than 120 hotels include nearly 33,000
rooms in 27 states and Canada, including locations in 19 of the top 25
U.S. lodging markets. Mr. Kline was a founding partner of the company,
opening the first hotel in 1981. Since 1994, Mr. Kline and his
management team have executed an extraordinary growth plan, absorbing
two major acquisitions which took the number of hotels from ten to over
100 in less than three years. In 1997 alone, Bristol more than doubled
in size with the acquisition of 60 company-owned Holiday Inn hotels from
U.K.-based Bass PLC, parent company of Bass Hotels & Resorts. In July
1998, Bristol Hotel Company spun off all of its non-real estate assets
into a separate public company, Bristol Hotels & Resorts.
Simultaneously, Bristol merged its real estate holdings with FelCor
Lodging Trust, establishing FelCor as the largest non-real hotel REIT
(real estate investment trust). Mr. Kline holds a bachelor of science
degree in hotel administration and a Masters degree in accounting from
Cornell University and is a certified public accountant. Prior to
Bristol, he spent nine years with the international accounting and
consulting firm of Laventhol & Horwath, gaining national prominence for
operational consulting with major hospitality industry companies and
managing the company's consulting division in Texas. Mr. Kline is also
very active in professional and community activities. He currently
serves on the Board of Directors of the International Association of
Holiday Inns. In addition, he serves on the New York Hospitality
Council, the board of directors of the North Texas Commission, and the
Advisory Boards to the University of North Texas and University of Texas
at Dallas School of Management. In the spring of 1998, he served as co-
chairman for the Second Annual Cornell University Conference on
Hospitality Industry Strategy. He is a member of the Regulatory Affairs
and Economic Policy Committees of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.# # Profile
Resorts?
Mr. Kline: The best way to give a brief description today is that we
are the largest independent management and
