| ARLINGTON, Va., Oct. 10, 2006 -
Interstate Hotels & Resorts (NYSE: IHR), the nation's largest independent
hotel management company, today announced that it has signed a long-term
contract with JSC Sadko Hotel to manage the landmark, 275-room Hilton Moscow
Leningradskaya in Moscow, Russia. It is the fourth property that the company
manages in Moscow and the sixth hotel Interstate has under management agreement
in Europe.
The property, the first hotel to carry the Hilton brand in Russia, currently
is closed undergoing a major refurbishment and will re-open in mid- 2007.
The Hilton Moscow Leningradskaya is one of seven famous 'Stalin' towers
that visually define the Moscow skyline. Originally constructed in 1954,
the Hilton Moscow Leningradskaya will retain many of its historic architectural
features as part of the refurbishment.
"This will be a magnificent hotel when completely renovated, and we
expect it to rapidly become a market leader," said Henry L. (Hank) Ciaffone,
president of international operations and development at Interstate. "We
have global expertise and a growing portfolio in Europe, including the
recent signing of our first property in Ireland and the soon-to-open Marriott
Ghent in Belgium. With our previous experience managing three properties
in Moscow, we have first-hand knowledge of this market most operators cannot
match. Combined with our strength in North America, we believe we can deliver
superior returns for our owner through our economies of scale, marketing
expertise and proprietary operating programs. We are aggressively seeking
additional growth opportunities in Europe for both branded and independent
hotels."
About Interstate
As of September 30, Interstate Hotels & Resorts operated 232 hospitality
properties with more than 52,000 rooms in 40 states, the District of Columbia,
Canada, and Russia. BridgeStreet Worldwide, an Interstate Hotels &
Resorts subsidiary, is one of the world's largest corporate housing providers.
BridgeStreet and its network of Global Partners offer more than 10,000
corporate apartments located in more than 100 MSAs throughout the United
States and internationally. For more information about Interstate Hotels
& Resorts, visit the company's Web site: http://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, although not
all forward- looking statements will contain such words. |
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| In 1954 the architect L. Polyakov created one of the most luxurious
hotels of Moscow. Any visitor entering the Hotel Leningradskaya cannot
but set eyes on the abundance and beauty of the building's interior decoration:
there are bronze lattices at the entrance, painted, stuccomolded and even
carved-timber ceilings, bronze chandeliers and lions, monumental furniture
made of valuable species of wood. Some details of the interior are so highly
exclusive that they were included in the Guinness' Book of Records. The
hotel's building has a status of an architectural monument and is protected
by the state. |
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