The Doubletree Guest Suites acquisition will be funded by borrowing on the company�s unsecured line of credit.  Innkeepers Hospitality Management, Inc. will manage the property.  Jeffrey H. Fisher, chief executive officer and president of Innkeepers USA Trust, owns Innkeepers Hospitality Management.

�The Washington, D.C. lodging market is among the strongest and most resilient in the nation,� Fisher said.  �Part of the reason is that the market is so well-diversified and draws from such a wide range of demand segments, including convention, leisure, group, government and corporate.  In addition, the opening of the new state-of-the-art convention center in March 2003 and the Department of Homeland Security bode well for this hotel�s long-term growth. 

�We already have two hotels in the Baltimore-Washington corridor, but this is our first property in downtown D.C. and one of the few all-suite hotels there,� Fisher added. 

Located in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of downtown Washington, D.C., the hotel is within blocks of George Washington University (and its related medical facilities), the Kennedy Center, the Smithsonian, the National Gallery of Art, the White House, the Monuments, the U.S. Capitol and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.  With the recently announced conversion of the nearby Watergate Hotel to condos, the Doubletree Guest Suites will be the closest hotel to the Kennedy Center.  Situated in the central business district (CBD), the property also is proximate to 70 million square feet of office space. 

Peter M. Willis, Innkeeper's vice president of business development, said that the company continues to have an aggressive appetite for hotel acquisitions, including upscale extended stay and premium limited service brands, the core of the company's portfolio; selected full-service properties; and turn-around opportunities and hotels that are affiliated with, or have the potential to be converted to, the industry's top brands. 

Innkeepers USA Trust is a hotel real estate investment trust (REIT) and a leading owner of upscale, extended-stay hotel properties throughout the United States.  The company owns 69 hotels with a total of 8,684 suites or rooms in 21 states and Washington, D.C., and focuses on acquiring and/or developing upscale and upscale extended-stay hotels with premium brands and the rebranding and repositioning of other hotel properties. 

Cautionary statements set forth in reports filed by the company from time to time with the SEC discuss important factors impacting, or that could impact, the company and its results or forecasted results.