Bruce Riggins to Join Interstate Hotels & Resorts in April as Chief Financial Officer

Current CFO Bill Richardson to Retire, Remain as Consultant to Company 


ARLINGTON, Va., Feb. 10  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Interstate Hotels & Resorts (NYSE:IHR), the nation's largest independent hotel management company, today announced that Chief Financial Officer Bill Richardson will retire from the company on April 17, 2006, but will remain as a consultant. Concurrently, the company announced that Bruce Riggins will re-join the company as chief financial officer on April 17, 2006.

"Bill has done a marvelous job for Interstate and its predecessor company," said Thomas F. Hewitt, chief executive officer. "Fortunately, Bill has agreed to remain in a consulting capacity, where we still will be able to benefit from his expertise, contacts and experience as we continue to implement our growth strategies. During his tenure here the past two years, he played a key role in strengthening our balance sheet and in helping us implement our strategy of selectively owning hotel real estate as a new growth avenue.

"Bruce Riggins is well known to the company, having worked seven years for Interstate and its predecessor companies," he noted. "Prior to leaving the company in 2005, he was senior vice president and treasurer. Because of his knowledge of the company and his industry experience, we expect Bruce to have minimal transition time in his new role."

Riggins currently is chief financial officer of Innkeepers USA Trust (NYSE:KPA). Prior to joining Interstate as senior vice president and treasurer, he was vice president of strategic planning and analysis for MeriStar Hospitality Corporation and senior director of finance for both MeriStar and Interstate, when the two companies shared a number of senior- level executives in a paper-clipped REIT/C-Corp structure.

A certified public accountant, Riggins began his career with the accounting firm of Deloitte & Touche, LLP. He is a graduate of Virginia Tech with a bachelor's degree in accounting.

Interstate Hotels & Resorts operates nearly 300 hospitality properties with more than 65,000 rooms in 41 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 8,900 corporate apartments located in more than 90 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. 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 aftermath of the war with 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 as amended for the year ended December 31, 2004.

  Contact:
  Melissa Thompson                          Jerry Daly, Carol McCune (media)
  Vice President, Corporate Communications  Daly Gray Public Relations
  [phone]                            [phone]
                  

First Call Analyst: 

FCMN Contact: [e-mail] 

DATASOURCE: Interstate Hotels & Resorts



CONTACT:  Melissa Thompson, Vice President, Corporate Communications of

Interstate Hotels & Resorts, [phone], ; or

media: Jerry Daly or Carol McCune of Daly Gray Public Relations,

[phone], , for Interstate Hotels & Resorts



Web site:  http://www.ihrco.com/ 

Copyright