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 Hersha Hospitality Trust Acquires Ownership Interest in
Hilton Garden Inn, Glastonbury, Connecticut; 
First Acquisition with Proceeds from $83 million Secondary Public Offering
HARRISBURG, Pa., December 2, 2003 � Hersha Hospitality Trust (AMEX: HT), a real estate investment trust (REIT) and owner of nationally franchised, premium, limited-service hotels, today announced that it has acquired an ownership interest in the newly opened Hilton Garden Inn Hartford South/Glastonbury in Conn.  The 150-room property was developed by PRA, a Philadelphia, Pa.-based commercial development group that will retain the majority ownership interest.  The hotel was opened on November 11 and is managed by Hersha Hospitality Management, an independent, third-party management company.

�This is the first acquisition with proceeds from our recently completed $83 million secondary public offering.  We expect it to become accretive to our funds from operations in 2004,� said Jay Shah, president and COO.  �This is the 4th property we have invested in, either for the REIT or in our strategic relationship with CNL Hospitality Properties, Inc. in the last 4 months, bringing our owned portfolio to 22 properties.

�PRA has built one of the finest Hilton Garden Inns in the system, and we seek to do additional transactions with developers of this caliber.  We have an active pipeline and currently are reviewing a number of acquisition candidates, both in joint ventures or as wholly owned properties.  We continue to focus on premium, limited-service brands located in markets with high barriers to new competition in the Northeastern quadrant of the country,� he said.

Located in Glastonbury, seven miles southeast of Hartford, the six-story hotel is near such major corporations as Pratt Whitney, Amica Insurance and Ikon/Office Solutions and is adjacent to the Shops at Somerset Square, an upscale lifestyle retail center.  The hotel features 3,200 square feet of meeting space, indoor pool, whirlpool, fitness center, 24-hour business center and a 58-seat restaurant.  Each guest room is equipped with a spacious work desk with two phones and two lines, voice mail and data ports, free high speed Internet access, as well as a microwave, refrigerator, coffee maker, iron/ironing board and hair dryer. 

Hersha Hospitality Trust is a self-advised real estate investment trust that focuses primarily on owning and operating high quality, mid-scale limited service hotels in the Eastern United States.  The company focuses on acquisition and joint venture opportunities in primary and secondary markets near major metropolitan markets. Certain matters within this press release are discussed using forward-looking language as specified in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and, as such, may involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results or performance to differ from those projected in the forward-looking statement.

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Contact:
 Ashish Parikh
Ph: (717) 770-2405
Also See: Spurred by the Construction of the Connecticut Convention Center, Significant New Hotel Developments Occurring in Hartford / November 2003


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