BETHESDA, Md. -April 16, 2013 --RLJ Lodging Trust (the “Company”) (NYSE: RLJ) today announced the appointment of Leslie D. Hale to Executive Vice President. Ms. Hale will serve in a dual role of Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. She will continue to oversee all financial matters, investor relations, and the execution of all transactions. In her new role, her responsibilities will be expanded to include additional investment decision-making, strategic planning, and risk management.

“I am pleased to announce Leslie’s promotion to Executive Vice President,” commented Thomas J. Baltimore, Jr., the Company’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “Leslie has been instrumental in the Company’s growth over the past eight years. Through her strategic focus, real estate and finance expertise, and commitment to the Company, she has been an exceptional leader. I look forward to reaching new levels of success and growth with her increased involvement in investment and strategic planning.”

Since joining the Company, Ms. Hale has been promoted multiple times in recognition of the talent and capabilities that she brings to the Company. She joined RLJ Development, Inc., the Company’s predecessor, in 2005 as its Director of Real Estate and Finance and was promoted to Vice President in 2006. In 2007, she was promoted to Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President.

“I am excited and honored to transition into this new leadership role,” said Ms. Hale. “As we continue to execute our growth strategies, I will remain focused and committed to maintaining our strong financial position. In my expanded role, I look forward to continuing to contribute to the growth and success of the Company.”

Prior to Ms. Hale’s tenure at RLJ, she held several positions within General Electric Capital Corporation (“GE”), including Vice President in the Mergers and Acquisitions Group of GE Commercial Finance and Associate Director in the GE Real Estate – Strategic Capital Group. Before GE, Ms. Hale was an investment banker at Goldman, Sachs & Co. Ms. Hale earned a BBA degree with a concentration in Finance from Howard University, summa cum laude and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

About RLJ Lodging Trust
RLJ Lodging Trust is a self-advised, publicly traded real estate investment trust focused on acquiring premium-branded, focused-service and compact full-service hotels. The Company owns 147 hotels with nearly 22,000 rooms and one planned hotel conversion across 21 states and the District of Columbia.

Forward Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release, other than purely historical information, including estimates, projections, statements relating to our business plans, objectives and expected operating results, and the assumptions upon which those statements are based, are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the use of the words “believe,” “project,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “plan,” “may,” “will,” “will continue,” “intend,” “should,” “may” or similar expressions. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, beliefs and expectations, such forward-looking statements are not predictions of future events or guarantees of future performance and our actual results could differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. Some factors that might cause such a difference include the following: the current global economic uncertainty, increased direct competition, changes in government regulations or accounting rules, changes in local, national and global real estate conditions, declines in the lodging industry, seasonality of the lodging industry, risks related to naturaldisasters, such as earthquakes and hurricanes, hostilities, including future terrorist attacks or fear of hostilities that affect travel, our ability to obtain lines of credit or permanent financing on satisfactory terms, changes in interest rates, access to capital through offerings of our common and preferred shares of beneficial interest, or debt, our ability to identify suitable acquisitions, our ability to close on identified acquisitions and integrate those businesses and inaccuracies of our accounting estimates. A discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from such forward-looking statements is included in "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012. Given these uncertainties, undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.