CHARLOTTE, N.C., April, 2018 — Extended Stay America, Inc. (“ESA”) and its paired-share REIT, ESH Hospitality, Inc. (“ESH”), (NYSE:STAY) (collectively, the “Company”) today announced that Brian T. Nicholson will be appointed to serve as the next Chief Financial Officer of both companies prior to their May 16, 2018 annual meetings of shareholders.

Mr. Nicholson, 48, returns to the Company after serving in executive roles with multi-unit, consumer-facing companies over the past three years. Since 2016, he has served as Chief Financial Officer for The Fresh Market, Inc., a specialty food retailer with over 175 stores, where he also served as Interim Chief Executive Officer from June 2017 to September 2017. From 2015 to 2016, Mr. Nicholson was the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Driven Brands, Inc., a private equity-owned multi-brand automotive company with both franchised and company-owned businesses including Meineke Car Care, Maaco, 1-800 Radiator, CARSTAR, and Take 5 Oil Change. From 2012 to 2015, Mr. Nicholson was the Vice President of Financial Planning & Analysis for the Company, a period that included the Company’s initial public offering. He previously served in finance, strategy, and consulting roles for The Fresh Market, Inc. and ScottMadden, Inc. Mr. Nicholson is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and holds a Master of Business Administration from Wake Forest University.

Jonathan Halkyard, President and Chief Executive Officer of ESA and ESH, said, “We are delighted to welcome Brian Nicholson back to the Extended Stay America family. A nationwide search process confirmed what we already knew: that Brian’s intimate knowledge of our operating model, balance sheet, paired share structure, and core business, combined with the executive experience that he has gained over the past three years in other franchising, real estate, and retail businesses, makes him the ideal candidate to lead our way forward as we continue to execute on our ESA 2.0 initiatives.”

Mr. Halkyard added, “I’d also like to thank David Clarkson for his outstanding service as our Interim Chief Financial Officer since January 1, 2018. David will return to his role leading our Treasury and FP&A functions, reporting directly to Brian.”

Mr. Nicholson said, “I’d like to thank Jonathan and the Boards of Directors for appointing me to succeed Jonathan as CFO. With the launch of ESA 2.0, Extended Stay America is positioned to do great things in the coming years, and I couldn’t be happier to be rejoining the company at such a transformative time.”