ARLINGTON, Va., June 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Interstate Hotels & Resorts (NYSE: IHR), a leading hotel real estate investor and the nation's largest independent operator of full- and select-service hotels, today announced that it opened and will operate the first aloftsm hotel in the U.S., in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., near Ontario. The 136-room, newly built hotel is owned by a joint venture in which Interstate and The John Buck Company (TJBC) of Chicago, Ill., a real estate development firm, are partners.

It is the first in a series of aloft hotels slated for development by the partnership over the next several years, with the second scheduled to open in suburban Nashville this September. TJBC oversees development of the hotels for the partnership.

aloft is Starwood Hotels & Resorts' new premium, select-service hotel brand designed to appeal to a new generation of business and leisure travelers, featuring high design at an affordable price point, accessible technology, style and a social atmosphere.

"The aloft Ontario-Rancho Cucamonga is part of our growth strategy to develop hotels through joint ventures, which creates significant embedded growth as we ramp them up," said Thomas F. Hewitt, Interstate's chief executive officer. "As the world's largest third-party management company, we are honored to be opening the first aloft in the United States and to add this exciting new brand to our management/joint ventures portfolio. We're confident that we can deliver the same kind of superior service and memorable guest experience that have earned us consistently superior guest satisfaction scores and RevPAR results."

"aloft is a much anticipated brand that we believe will change the face of the premium, select-service sector, and we are delighted to be introducing it in the U.S.," said Paul Novak, TJBC's managing director, hospitality division. "Our second aloft in Cool Springs outside of Nashville is on schedule for a September opening, and we have additional aloft hotels at various stages in the development pipeline. We continue to look for other opportunities for this cutting-edge brand."

Located off Highway 10, at the northwest corner of 4th Avenue and Haven, the 136-room aloft is part of a $60 million master-planned, mixed-use development called HavenPark, near Ontario Airport and the Ontario Convention Center. The just completed development features 150,000 square feet of Class A office space, 22,000 square feet of retail space, a free-standing, full-service restaurant and the aloft hotel.

"The aloft development partnership is a continuation of our joint venture growth strategy that allows us to benefit from the advantages of real estate ownership," said Leslie Ng, chief investment officer of Interstate. "We expect this brand to quickly gain broad market acceptance and achieve strong operating margins. We further believe that the aloft brand will be a significant addition to this competitive sector of our industry."

About aloft

An instant hit in the development community, the first aloft hotels are scheduled to open in summer 2008. The aloft brand has already announced more than 90 development projects, in more than 10 countries. In 2009, the aloft brand will continue its momentum with the opening of more than 50 hotels broadening the international footprint and domestically positioning aloft hotels in markets previously under penetrated. Following the U.S. debut of this aloft hotel in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., several others are scheduled to open shortly in Chicago O'Hare, Ill., Minneapolis, Minn., Philadelphia Airport, Pa., Lexington, Mass., Rogers-Bentonville, Ark., as well as Beijing, China. Scheduled to open in 2009 are aloft Brooklyn, N.Y., Denver International Airport, Col., Dallas, Texas, Atlanta, Ga., Las Vegas, Nev. and Toronto, Canada. For more information on aloft hotels, visit www.alofthotels.com.

About The John Buck Company

Founded in 1981, The John Buck Company offers comprehensive real estate services in the areas of development, finance, investment brokerage, project leasing, tenant representation, marketing and management, as well as construction for commercial, mixed-use and residential properties. The international, employee-owned firm is headquartered in Chicago. For additional information on The John Buck Company, please visit the company's website at www.TJBC.com.

About Interstate Hotels & Resorts

As of today, Interstate Hotels & Resorts has ownership interests in 55 hotels and resorts, including seven wholly owned assets. Together with these properties, the company and its affiliates manage a total of 220 hospitality properties with over 45,500 rooms in 36 states, the District of Columbia, Russia, Mexico, Belgium, Canada, and Ireland. In addition, Interstate Hotels & Resorts also has contracts to manage 16 to be built hospitality properties with approximately 3,800 rooms. For more information about Interstate Hotels & Resorts, visit the company's Web site: 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. Except for historical information, the matters discussed in this press release are forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially, including the volatility of the national economy, economic conditions generally and the hotel and real estate markets specifically, the war in Iraq, international and geopolitical difficulties or health concerns, governmental actions, legislative and regulatory changes, availability of debt and equity capital, interest rates, competition, weather conditions or natural disasters, supply and demand for lodging facilities in our current and proposed market areas, and the company's ability to manage integration and growth. Additional risks are discussed in Interstate Hotels & Resorts' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Interstate Hotels & Resorts' annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007.



    Contact:
    Carrie McIntyre
    SVP, Treasurer, Interstate
    (703) 387-3320

    Paul Novak
    Managing Director, The John Buck Company
    pnovak@tjbc.com

SOURCE Interstate Hotels & Resorts