Country Inns & Suites Launches Military 1st Program to Honor Service Members

Country Inns & Suites By Carlson today announced the ­launch of Military 1st, a program that honors service members with a special preferred rate, the best available room at the time of check-in and other upgrades with country music star Kip Moore acting as the brand's Chief Gratitude Officer to help drive awareness to the program. In addition, Country Inns & Suites has partnered with Operation Gratitude through a letter writing campaign taking place at its more than 440 hotels in the U.S.

"Ourservice members havesacrificed everything to protect us, so it's really humbling to be part of Country Inns & Suites' efforts to recognize their commitment to our country," said Kip Moore."I'mhonored to have this amazing opportunity to showmyappreciation with this partnership, providing our heroes with a great experience and a sense of home."

The Military 1^st program is available for active and retired military, veterans and their spouses and can be booked directly at CountryInns.com/military. A valid military ID or DD Form must be presented at check-in. The offer is available at Country Inns & Suites hotels in the U.S. and Canada. In addition to a special rate, those who book the rate will receive automatic enrollment in the Club Carlson loyalty program with an upgrade to Silver Elite status after the first completed stay as well as the best available room at the time of check-in (subject to room availability at time of check-in).

"Service members and their families make tremendous sacrifices and we believe that those who have dedicated themselves to a higher level of service should be recognized," said Jeffrey Freund, senior vice president of operations for Country Inns & Suites By Carlson. "The Military 1^st program provides us the opportunity to express our gratitude to service members and allows us to engage other guests in that mission through our partnership with Operation Gratitude."

In partnership with Operation Gratitude, Country Inns & Suites has placed letter writing stations in all its hotels throughout the U.S. and is inviting guests to write notes of thanks. Hotels will collect the letters and Operation Gratitude will deliver them to active and deployed service members.

"We are delighted to partner with Country Inns & Suites, a brand that has made a strong and genuine commitment to recognizing the work and sacrifice of our service members," said Chris Clark, chief development officer for Operation Gratitude. "We annually send over 250,000 care packages to U.S. service members deployed overseas and to First Responders here at home. The packages are filled with snacks, entertainment and hygiene products, along with hand-made items such as knit scarves and paracord bracelets, plus personal letters of appreciation – which makes this letter writing campaign with Country Inns & Suites especially exciting and meaningful for us." The Military 1st rate is available now for booking.