Leslie Ng to Join Interstate Hotels & Resorts as Chief Investment Officer

"Acquisitions are a key element of our future growth plans, as weseek to further diversify our core management earnings stream," saidThomas F. Hewitt, chief executive officer. "Leslie brings a wealth ofexperience in this area -- with both single-asset acquisitions andmulti-property portfolios -- in addition to an excellent reputationand extensive industry contacts. He also provides us with additionaldepth in the areas of financing and capital markets and is eminentlyqualified to spearhead our acquisition efforts."

A 20-year hospitality industry veteran, Ng has more than 25 yearsof experience in real estate investment and finance and hasconsummated more than $5 billion in hotel acquisitions anddispositions. Prior to joining Interstate, he was senior managingdirector at Cushman & Wakefield, the world's largest privately heldreal estate services firm, where he was responsible for the firm'soverall lodging initiatives, including transactions and capitalformation on behalf of the firm's clients.

Previously, Ng was senior vice president of mergers andacquisitions for Wyndham International and its predecessor, PatriotAmerican Hospitality. As head of acquisitions, he played aninstrumental role in expanding the company's portfolio from 20 hotelsat the time of Patriot's IPO in 1995, to 489 hotels with more than100,000 rooms in 1999.

Earlier in his career, he served as senior vice president ofdevelopment for Carnival Hotels & Resorts, responsible foracquisitions, development and asset financing, and as vice presidentof real estate, responsible for the acquisition and asset managementof more than $1.0 billion in real estate assets at TobishimaAssociates Ltd., a multinational real estate investment anddevelopment subsidiary of a major Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed company.

Ng holds a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from The CooperUnion and an M.B.A. in real estate finance from The Wharton School,University of Pennsylvania.

Interstate Hotels & Resorts operates more than 300 hospitalityproperties with nearly 69,000 rooms in 41 states, the District ofColumbia, Canada, and Russia. BridgeStreet Worldwide, an InterstateHotels & Resorts' subsidiary, is one of the world's largest corporatehousing providers. BridgeStreet and its network of Global Partnersoffer more than 8,700 corporate apartments located in 91 MSAsthroughout the United States and internationally. For more informationabout Interstate Hotels & Resorts, visit the company's Web site:www.ihrco.com.

This press release contains "forward-looking statements," withinthe meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995,about Interstate Hotels & Resorts, including those statementsregarding future operating results and the timing and composition ofrevenues, among others, and statements containing words such as"expects," "believes" or "will," which indicate that those statementsare forward-looking. Except for historical information, the mattersdiscussed in this press release are forward-looking statements thatare subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause theactual results to differ materially, including the volatility of thenational economy, economic conditions generally and the hotel and realestate markets specifically, the aftermath of the war with Iraq,international and geopolitical difficulties or health concerns,governmental actions, legislative and regulatory changes, availabilityof debt and equity capital, interest rates, competition, weatherconditions or natural disasters, supply and demand for lodgingfacilities in our current and proposed market areas, and the company'sability to manage integration and growth. Additional risks arediscussed in Interstate Hotels & Resorts' filings with the Securitiesand Exchange Commission, including Interstate Hotels & Resorts' annualreport on Form 10-K as amended for the year ended December 31, 2004.