Interstate Hotels & Resorts and JV Partner, Harte Holdings of Ireland, Complete Acquisition of Four-hotel Portfolio from Blackstone for $208 Million

ARLINGTON, Va., Feb. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Interstate Hotels & Resorts (NYSE: IHR) , a leading hotel real estate investor and the nation's largest independent operator of full and select-service hotels, today announced that its joint venture with Harte Holdings of Cork, Ireland, has completed the previously announced acquisition of four hotels from affiliates of The Blackstone Group for an aggregate price of $207.8 million. Interstate invested approximately $11.5 million for a 20 percent equity interest in the four hotels. Interstate funded the acquisition with available cash and capacity under its senior revolving credit facility.

    The four properties included in the joint venture acquisition are:



            Property               Rooms        Location

    Sheraton Frazer Great Valley    198    Frazer, PA (Phila MSA)
    Sheraton Mahwah                 225    Mahwah, NJ
    Latham Hotel Georgetown         142    Washington, DC
    Hilton Lafayette                327    Lafayette, LA
                             Total: 892



    Interstate manages all four hotels under new management agreements.

About Harte Holdings

Harte Holdings is an Irish-based investment and development company which owns a wide variety of real estate projects in the United Kingdom, Ireland and mainland Europe, with a portfolio consisting primarily of hotels, residential, commercial and retail assets in these areas.

About Interstate

As of today, Interstate Hotels & Resorts owns seven hotels and has a minority ownership interest in 26 hotels and resorts. Together with these properties, the company and its affiliates manage a total of 197 hospitality properties with nearly 44,000 rooms in 36 states, the District of Columbia, Belgium, Canada, Ireland, Mexico and Russia. Interstate Hotels & Resorts also has contracts to manage 17 hospitality properties with approximately 4,800 rooms currently under construction. For more information about Interstate Hotels & Resorts, visit the company's Web site: www.ihrco.com.

This press release contains "forward-looking statements," within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, about Interstate Hotels & Resorts, including those statements regarding future operating results and the timing and composition of revenues, among others, and statements containing words such as "expects," "believes" or "will," which indicate that those statements are forward-looking. Except for historical information, the matters discussed in this press release are forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially, including the volatility of the national economy, economic conditions generally and the hotel and real estate markets specifically, the war in Iraq, international and geopolitical difficulties or health concerns, governmental actions, legislative and regulatory changes, availability of debt and equity capital, interest rates, competition, weather conditions or natural disasters, supply and demand for lodging facilities in our current and proposed market areas, and the company's ability to manage integration and growth. Additional risks are discussed in Interstate Hotels & Resorts' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Interstate Hotels & Resorts' annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006.

    Contact:
    Carrie McIntyre
    SVP, Treasurer
    (703) 387-3320