PHILADELPHIA, Hersha Hospitality Management, a hotel management company of over 50 nationally franchised, upper-upscale, upscale and midscale hotels in the eastern United States, today announced Z. Steve Kovats as general manager of the Sheraton at Woodbridge Place and as regional director of operations responsible for providing opening and above- property support for other full service properties under development. At the Sheraton at Woodbridge Place, Kovats will help design and implement a significant renovation of the 307-room hotel, including planned enhancements to its lobby and other common spaces, food and beverage outlets, and the existing 20,000 square feet of meeting and banquet space.

Kovats has a distinguished 25-year career in full service operations, including 15 years with Winegardner & Hammons, Inc. and 6 years with White Lodging Services Corporation. His tenure includes 10 years of experience as general manager of three different Marriott hotels, including two four-star hotels, and as a regional director of operations at White Lodging of 11 full service hotels, including hotels franchised by Marriott, Westin, Hilton, and Sheraton. Kovats also has a deep food and beverage background, having started his career as executive chef of an upscale restaurant that produced $3 million in annual revenues, and progressing to serve as the opening general manager of the Marriott Norfolk Downtown, which included the first Shulas 347 concept restaurant, and responsibility for the Parkway Grille Street Side Concept in the Detroit Marriott Pontiac. Kovats was also opening general manager of the Columbus Marriott Downtown, which Marriott announced as Hotel Opening of the Year in 1998.

Just two weeks ago, Hersha Hospitality Management announced as its president, Tom Reese, who spent the majority of his 28-year career in executive operations with Marriott International, most notably as general manager of the Marriott Marquis in New York City. "Steve will further bolster our full service management and food and beverage capabilities, while bringing strong leadership to the Sheraton at Woodbridge Place. We intend to renovate and position this hotel as one of the premier conference and banquet hotels in Northern New Jersey, which is part of our fastest growing cluster in and around New York City."

Hersha Hospitality Management operates five hotels in Manhattan and six hotels across Long Island, JFK Airport and northern New Jersey, with numerous other hotel development projects in New York City. Starwood recently selected Hersha Hospitality Management as a "preferred management company" for its Sheraton, Four Points, Element and aLoft brands.

Hersha Hospitality Management is a hotel management company providing operations and development services to upper-upscale, upscale and midscale hotels with strong, national franchise affiliations in the eastern United States. The company currently provides hotel management services and asset management services to more than 50 hotels in the top markets in the nation, including metro Boston, Connecticut, New York City, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and metro Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit .

Certain matters within this press release are discussed using forward- looking language as specified in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and, as such, may involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results or performance to differ from those projected in the forward-looking statement.

Naveen P. Kakarla
Hersha Hospitality Management
+1-215-238-1046
HHM Hotels