MeriStar Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NYSE: MMH), the nation`s largest independent hotel management company, today announced results for the third quarter and nine months ended September 30, 1999.

Earnings for the 1999 third quarter were $(0.3) million, or $(0.01) per share on a diluted basis. Revenues for the period increased 16.8 percent to $314.8 million, and earnings before interest expense, income taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for the quarter were $1.7 million. Results were in line with consensus analyst expectations. Year to date earnings per share increased 53.3 percent to $0.23.

Same-store average daily rate (ADR) for full-service, leased hotels increased 2.2 percent to $97.03, while occupancy rose 2.1 percent to 74.3 percent. Revenue per available room (RevPAR) improved 4.3 percent to $72.04, compared to the same period last year.

For all leased hotels, RevPAR increased 3.5 percent to $68.98. ADR improved 2.5 percent to $92.81, and occupancy increased 1.0 percent to 74.3 percent.

``Our operating teams produced solid rate and occupancy increases during the typically slower summer months of the third quarter,`` said Paul W. Whetsell, chairman and CEO of MeriStar Hotels & Resorts. ``Our size continues to provide us with additional operating efficiencies and greater leverage in the marketplace.``

``During the quarter, we added contracts to manage five hotels and a championship golf course in Augusta, Georgia,`` he said. ``MeriStar Investment Partners, our joint venture with Oak Hill Capital Partners and MeriStar Hospitality (NYSE:MHX), recently acquired its sixth hotel located in Anchorage, Alaska and announced plans to acquire a 315-room Hilton in Newark, California, both of which MeriStar Hotels & Resorts will manage. The completion of this acquisition will bring the venture`s total investment to $250 million, leaving an additional $150 million that we expect to invest over the next six months.``

``Our general managers are focused on further improving operational performance and service levels at each of our hotels,`` said David E. McCaslin, president of MeriStar Hotels & Resorts. ``On the sales and marketing side, we are partnering with internet-based travel providers to drive our revenues and are continuing to streamline our sales efforts nationwide.``

MeriStar Hotels & Resorts leases or manages 217 hotels with 45,415 rooms in 35 states, the District of Columbia, Canada and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

For more information about MeriStar Hotels & Resorts, Inc. and MeriStar Hospitality Corporation, visit the companies` web site: www.meristar.com.

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