“Given our strong position in New York and Boston, increasing our exposure to Miami and Southern California continues our efforts to leverage high-demand, high-barrier-to-entry international gateways to drive strong revenue and earnings growth in our portfolio,” Shah said in prepared remarks.

“Both of these acquisitions further the Company's strategy to invest in high quality urban transient focused hotels in our selected gateway markets. The Southern California and Miami markets exhibit strong growth prospects and we are extremely pleased to have sourced acquisitions that fit the Company's highly selective investment criteria. The Company has been extremely disciplined in its expansion and our strong cash position allows us the flexibility to acquire these assets at an opportune time in the lodging cycle,” stated Jay H. Shah, Chief Executive Officer.

The purchase price for the San Diego extended-stay hotel reflects a first-year cap' rate of 7% . The rate should stabilize at 9% according to Shah. The downtown Courtyard San Diego set in the Gaslamp Quarter close to the Westfield Horton Plaza Mall, recently underwent a $6.4 million renovation of its guest rooms and public areas.

The Miami Residence Inn, to be purchased in a distress sale early next year, would undergo a major upgrade after purchase by Hersha. The purchase price reflects an initial cap' rate of 7.2%, but after renovation, a rate of more than 11% is anticipated, said Shah.

The inn is situated close to the downtown Brickell office market and is the closest extended-stay property to the University of Miami in Coral Cables. The Miami market in general is historically one of the strongest lodging markets in the country; this year RevPAR grew by 13.6% through April 30.