BancBoston Robertson Stephens Initiates Coverage of the Hotel REIT Industry, MHX with a Buy Rating, FCH and KPA with Long-Term Attractive Ratings.

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 13, 1999--

BancBoston Robertson Stephens managing director and senior real estate analyst Jay P. Leupp and real estate analyst Robert L. Levy today initiated coverage of the hotel REIT industry.

Companies included this industry initiation include MeriStar Hospitality Corp. (NYSE:MHX) with a Buy rating, FelCor Lodging Trust (NYSE:FCH) with a Long-Term Attractive Rating and Innkeepers USA Trust (NYSE:KPA) with a Long-Term Attractive Rating.

MeriStar Hospitality Corp., headquartered in Washington, D.C., is a REIT focused on the ownership of upscale, full-service hotels. FelCor Lodging Trust, headquartered in Irving, Texas, is a REIT focused primarily on the ownership of upscale and mid-priced, full-service hotels. Innkeepers USA Trust, headquartered in Palm Beach, Florida, is a REIT focused primarily on the ownership of upscale, extended-stay hotels.

"We are initiating coverage of MeriStar with a Buy rating, as we believe the company's 'paper-clipped' structure increases the REIT's control over its hotel portfolio while maintaining its tax advantaged structure and reducing leakage," said Leupp and Levy. "We estimate that the company is trading at a 17 percent discount to its net asset value. We view MeriStar's structure, management team, and portfolio to be superior to most of its peers, thereby creating a significant buying opportunity for REIT investors at current valuations."

"We are initiating coverage of FelCor Lodging Trust and Innkeepers USA Trust with Long-Term Attractive ratings," said Leupp and Levy. "We estimate that FelCor is trading at a 13 percent discount to its net asset value. We believe the softening of industry fundamentals in some of the company's core markets along with its high debt levels should continue to place downward pressure on FelCor's stock."

"We believe Innkeepers is well positioned for moderate long-term growth and stability, although the short term outlook for the upscale extended stay sector and for Innkeepers' portfolio is for only slight to moderate RevPar growth," said Leupp and Levy.

Clients interested in receiving more information should contact their salesperson at 415/781-9700.

BancBoston Robertson Stephens is the leading full-service investment bank focused exclusively on growth companies. For the first half of 1999, the firm completed over 100 offerings, raising more than $15 billion in capital for clients and is the leading investment bank for Internet M&A transactions. The firm's 45 research analysts cover nearly 700 companies. Founded in 1978, BancBoston Robertson Stephens is the section 20 subsidiary of BankBoston Corporation (NYSE:BKB). Together, BancBoston Robertson Stephens, BancBoston Robertson Stephens International, and Evergreen Securities Ltd. employ 1,000 employees throughout the world with offices in Boston, San Francisco, New York, Menlo Park, Chicago, London and Tel Aviv. For more information about the firm, please visit our Web site at www.rsco.com.

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