AFP Brings Long-Term Solutions to Ayres Hotels Throughout Southern California

AFP Revitalizes Fitness Center “Experience” Across Ayres SoCal Locations, With Consistent Look, Feel and State-of-the-Art Equipment

LOS ANGELES – April 21, 2009 – Advantage Fitness Products (AFP), a leading provider of full-service fitness facility planning, design, supply and service, recently completed a multi-facility project for Ayres Hotels. Ayres Hotels tasked AFP with the goal of revamping the equipment and layout of each of its fitness centers, while creating a consistent and streamline look and feel to the fitness rooms across each of its Southern California locations. Additionally, Ayres’ sought measures that would make the development and ongoing maintenance of its fitness centers more efficient and cost-effective.

Prior to AFP’s efforts, Ayres Hotels’ fitness offering had been simplistic, with little emphasis on the unique nuances of design, spatial layout and equipment selection that are inherent to a safe and efficient fitness environment. Ayres’ fitness rooms were not devoted fitness “environments” but simply guest rooms converted to house a selection of basic fitness equipment. Not only were these fitness rooms not conducive to an effective fitness and exercise experience, there was no consistency from one Ayres’ Hotel location to the next.

“The Ayres Hotel project allowed us to tap into our core areas of expertise: developing a consistent fitness experience across multiple hotel locations and implementing measures that reduce undue costs and effort over the life of the facilities,” said Bryan Green, President and CEO of AFP. “Our specific focus was to maximize the hotel’s designated fitness space, introduce “best-in-class” exercise equipment, and provide a preventative maintenance strategy that would save Ayres’ considerable time, energy and money over the long term.”

Led by lead by Key Account Manager Wil Morrise, AFP developed a spatial plan for each Ayres location fitness center that maximized available space and created a consistent layout across each Ayres Southern California location. Equipment selection was a critical part of the layout strategy. Not only were outdated cardio machines replaced with state-of-the-art offerings from Precor and Star Trac, but space was maximized by the use of multi-purpose strength machines allowing for a wider variety of exercise options all from a single piece of equipment. In addition, an array of dumbbells and accessories such as resistance bands and stretching mats provided an added level of versatility to each fitness center. For the finishing touch, AFP focused on hygiene-friendly measures, including updated fitness flooring, equipment mats and disinfectant handy wipe dispensers.

Arguably the most important component of AFP’s offering was the development of a preventative maintenance contract to maximize the life of the exercise equipment and avoid costly and time-consuming repairs that are inevitable without a preventative strategy. The value of this can’t be overstated, when considering the ongoing investment of time, energy and money that’s required for any facility attempting to self-manage the life of the facility and its equipment. By outsourcing this responsibility to the qualified experts at AFP, Ayres eliminated the time and energy associated, freeing its staff up to focus on its highest priorities of hotel management and customer service.

“We are grateful to Advantage Fitness Products, as they were instrumental in helping Ayres’ Hotels upgrade many of its current fitness centers, while insuring our new properties get started with the correct equipment, layout and accessories,” said Don Ayres III, principal of Ayres Hotels.

The Southern California Ayres Hotels project is the latest in an extensive line-up of hotel fitness center installations that AFP has successfully completed for the leading brands in the hospitality industry, including Four Seasons Resorts, Disneyland Hotels, Princess Cruise lines, Ritz Carlton, and many more.