Chartres Lodging's Acquisition and Repositioning of Adam's Mark Hotels Named Deal of the Year in Prestigious Distressed Real Estate Competition.

PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The acquisition and repositioning by The Chartres Lodging Group, LLC, of San Francisco, of the five-property,4,867-room Adam's Mark hotel portfolio received top honors in a prestigious competition marking excellence in deal-making in the distressed middle-market investing, restructuring and turnaround marketplace.

Specifically, Chartres Lodging's high-profile February 2008 purchase - one of the last major commercial real estate acquisitions before the current financial crisis - was judged "Distressed Deal of the Year" in the M&A Advisor 3rd Annual Turnaround Awards, announced March 16 in Palm Beach, Fla. Acting with majority equity stakeholder Goldman Sachs' Whitehall Street Global Real Estate Fund, Chartres acquired the five remaining Adam's Mark hotels in Dallas, Denver, St. Louis, Indianapolis and Buffalo from HBE Corp., of St. Louis, and is currently investing more than $220 million to renovate and reposition the properties. The plan includes rebranding partnerships with Sheraton in Dallas and Denver, and with Hyatt Regency in St. Louis, and the sale of the Buffalo property as part of the original investment strategy.

The Chartres Lodging deal was one of 107 finalists in 26 categories judged by an independent body of experts spanning the turnaround industry.

"It is an honor to recognize the precedent-setting work of Chartres Lodging," said Roger Aguinaldo, CEO and publisher of M&A Advisor. "In the midst of a challenging economic and credit marketplace, Chartres Lodging succeeded in restructuring and rebuilding a one-time hospitality icon to create new life for five important downtown convention hotels."

The company's partnership with the five Adam's Mark properties was patterned after a similar successful venture in Jacksonville, Fla. In March 2005, a Chartres-led investment group acquired the 966-room Adam's Mark Jacksonville Hotel from HBE Corp., and since transformed it into the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront through a multi-million-dollar renovation that created one of Northeast Florida's most elegant and best-performing convention hotels.

"Chartres Lodging was afforded the unique opportunity to acquire large, convention-oriented hotels in the heart of five premier leisure and convention visitor markets offering extraordinary growth potential," explained Maki Nakamura Bara, Chartres Lodging co-founder and managing partner. "We spent six more months than planned to secure a complex financing structure that integrated five different lenders. That we were able to close this transaction despite the current economy and financing challenges is a tribute to our dedicated team and partners."

"We are well on our way toward implementing our renovation, rebranding and repositioning strategy. Upon completion, we will own five newly renovated large-box convention hotels with excellent urban locations at a basis that is less than half their replacement cost."

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About The Chartres Lodging Group, LLC

The Chartres Lodging Group, LLC, is an investment and advisory firm focused on the investment, asset management and renovation of high-quality lodging assets. Chartres Lodging Group's principals have been responsible for more than $8 billion of lodging investments and have asset-managed more than 100 upscale and luxury hotels, resorts and conference centers. The firm is currently responsible for a $6-billion, 20,000-room portfolio of luxury and upscale hotels, conference centers and resorts located throughout the United States and Japan. Chartres' principals and employees are direct investors in 65% of this portfolio. Chartres Lodging is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Tokyo. For more information on The Chartres Lodging Group, please visit www.chartreslodging.com.