Host Hotels & Resorts’ joint venture in the Netherlands has completed the purchase of four hotels from Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. The Company also announced that it contributed the Sheraton Warsaw Hotel & Towers to the joint venture.

The four hotels purchased by the joint venture today include: The Westin Palace, Madrid, located in Madrid, Spain (468 rooms); The Westin Palace, Milan, located in Milan, Italy (228 rooms); the Sheraton Skyline Hotel & Conference Centre, located in Hayes, United Kingdom (350 rooms); and the Sheraton Roma Hotel & Conference Center, located in Rome, Italy (634 rooms). The purchase of these hotels had been deferred from the previous closing of the Company’s purchase of assets from Starwood on April 10, 2006 as a result of certain notice requirements. The Company expects that the fifth hotel that was deferred from the initial closing, The Westin Europa & Regina, located in Venice, Italy, will be purchased by the joint venture by June 15, 2006, at which time the initial joint venture investment of approximately $621 million in six hotels will be complete.

The joint venture partners also are contemplating entering into an expanded joint venture, which would be subject to antitrust clearance, that would increase the aggregate size of the joint venture to €533 million of equity, which including anticipated leverage would provide the joint venture with aggregate funds available for investment of €1.5 billion (including the funds invested in the six initial joint venture properties).
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