CNL Hotel & Resorts Acquired by Morgan Stanley Real Estate

Pyramid Advisors and Partners, Morgan Stanley Real Estate
Complete Acquisition of CNL Hotels & Resorts, Inc., for $6.6 Billion

Spins off $2.4 Billion in Hotels to Ashford Hospitality, Retains Eight Luxury Resorts


BOSTON, Mass., April 16, 2007 – Pyramid Advisors LLC and Morgan Stanley Real Estate announced the completion of the previously announced acquisition of CNL Hotels and Resorts, Inc. (CHR) for $6.6 billion. Immediately prior to and in connection with the acquisition, Ashford Hospitality Trust (NYSE:AHT) acquired for $2.4 billion 51 of CHR’s full- and select-service hotels aggregating 15,105 rooms. Pyramid and Morgan Stanley Real Estate acquired CHR’s eight luxury resort properties in Arizona, California, Florida and Hawaii aggregating 5,506 rooms.
“We are delighted to participate in this transaction with our partners at Morgan Stanley Real Estate, which significantly expands our on-going relationship with them,” said Richard Kelleher, chief executive officer, Pyramid Advisors. “The resort properties represent some of the industry’s most significant and irreplaceable hospitality real estate.”
The acquired resorts include:
The 950-room JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa, Phoenix, Ariz.
The 279-room Claremont Resort & Spa, Berkeley, Calif.
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Acquires CNL Portfolio
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The 584-room Ritz-Carlton Orlando Grande Lakes and the 998-room JW Marriott Orlando, Grande Lakes, both in Orlando, Fla.
Three hotels in Hilton’s Waldorf=Astoria Collection, the 738-room Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa, Phoenix, Ariz., the 796-room La Quinta Resort & Club in Palm Springs, Calif., and the 780-room Grand Wailea Resort Hotel & Spa in Maui, Hawaii.
Pyramid Advisors LLC and Morgan Stanley Real Estate will own and asset manage the portfolio. Both firms currently also participate in and co-manage investment funds with approximately $2.5 billion of hospitality real estate throughout the United States.
Pyramid Advisors is a full-service, privately-owned hotel company based in Boston. Pyramid is a hospitality property manager, asset manager and project manager with approximately 50 properties under ownership, property management or asset management, totaling more than $7 billion in asset value. For more information about Pyramid Advisors, please visit www.pyramidadvisors.com.