Leading Proxy Advisory Firm Supports MeriStar Hospitality's "Declawed" Preferred Issue.

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 3, 1999--

MeriStar Hospitality Corporation (NYSE: MHX), a hotel real estate investment trust (REIT), today announced that Institutional Shareholder Services, Inc. (ISS) has recommended that its clients vote in favor of MeriStar's proposal to authorize 100 million shares of preferred stock at the company's annual meeting scheduled for May 11, 1999.

MeriStar seeks to authorize "declawed" preferred stock--preferred shares that will not be used for anti-takeover purposes and will not carry supervoting rights.

The ISS report stated, "Declawed preferred stock eliminates most of the negative effect of blank check preferred stock, but, nonetheless, provides companies with a means of raising capital or funding acquisitions. We recommend shareholders vote for the declawed preferred stock."

Institutional Shareholder Services, based in Bethesda, Md., is a leading independent advisor to several hundred institutional investors and provides voting recommendations for proxy contests, corporate governance proposals and other shareholder related issues.

Washington, D.C.-based MeriStar Hospitality Corporation owns 117 principally upscale, full-service hotels in major market and resort locations with 29,468 rooms in 27 states, the District of Columbia and Canada. The company owns hotels under such internationally known brands as Hilton, Sheraton, Marriott, Westin, Radisson and Doubletree.

The matters in this press release include "forward looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and are qualified by cautionary statements contained herein and in MeriStar Hospitality Corporation filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.