Supertel Hospitality Announces Appointment of Four Directors

NORFOLK, NE--(Marketwire - Feb 8, 2012) - Supertel Hospitality, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPPR), a real estate investment trust (REIT) which owns 99 hotels in 23 states, today announced the appointment of Messrs. Daniel R. Elsztain, Jim Friend, Donald J. Landry, and John M. Sabin to its Board of Directors.

The four new directors were appointed in connection with the investment in the company by Real Estate Strategies L.P. ("RES"), an investment vehicle indirectly controlled by IRSA Inversiones y Representaciones Sociedad Anónima ("IRSA"), an Argentinean-based publicly traded company.

Mr. Elsztain obtained a degree in Economic Sciences from the Torcuato Di Tella University and has a Masters in Business Administration from the Austral IAE University. At present, he is a member of the Board of IRSA Inversiones y Representaciones Sociedad Anónima (IRSA), a real estate public company listed both on the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") and the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange ("BASE"), as well as its Director for Real Estate Business since 2004. He is a Board member of Alto Palermo S.A. (APSA), a retail public company listed both on NASDAQ and the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange. He is also a member of the Board of trustees of Hersha Hospitality Trust, a hotel REIT based in Philadelphia and listed on the NYSE.

Mr. Friend is president and CEO at Friend Development Group and specializes in hotel development both in the United States and overseas. Mr. Friend has extensive experience in ground-up development, has partnered and advised NYSE companies, major institutions, REITs, banks and privately held companies in a wide range of real estate product types including hotels, retail, assisted living, multi-family, and mixed-use development.

Mr. Landry has over forty years of lodging and hospitality experience in a variety of leadership positions. He is president and owner of Top Ten, an independent hospitality industry consulting company and is a member of the Board of trustees of Hersha Hospitality Trust. Mr. Landry has served as the President of Sunburst Hospitality Inc., Choice Hotels International, Inc., Manor Care Hotel Division and Richfield Hotel Management.

Mr. Sabin has over 30 years of business, legal and financial experience as an executive and director in a variety of businesses including the hotel industry. He is currently the Chief Financial Officer of Revolution LLC, an investment firm, and Case Foundation, a member of the Board of trustees of Hersha Hospitality Trust and a director of Prime Group Realty Trust.

"We are pleased to welcome these four respected professionals to the Supertel Board of Directors," said Kelly A. Walters, Supertel's president and CEO. "Their breadth of experience and industry knowledge will prove to be an invaluable resource to us in the future as we seek to re-shape Supertel into an organization optimally positioned to compete in the ever evolving hospitality business."

Paul J. Schulte, Richard A. Frandeen, Jeffrey M. Zwerdling, and Patrick J. Jung resigned as members of the Supertel Board of Directors effective January 31, 2012, and the resignations provided Board vacancies which facilitated the IRSA transaction. Walters noted, "These directors, which include one of the company's founders, diligently and deftly served the company during their 50 plus years of combined service, and we deeply appreciate their contributions to the company."

About Supertel Hospitality, Inc.
As of February 8, 2012, Supertel Hospitality, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPPR) owns 99 hotels comprised of 8,685 rooms in 23 states. The company's hotel portfolio includes Baymont Inn, Comfort Inn/Comfort Suites, Days Inn, Guest House Inn, Hampton Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Key West Inns, Masters Inn, Quality Inn, Ramada Limited, Savannah Suites, Sleep Inn, Super 8 and Supertel Inn. This diversity enables the company to participate in the best practices of each of these respected hospitality partners. The company specializes in limited service hotels, which do not normally offer food and beverage service. For more information or to make a hotel reservation, visit www.supertelinc.com.

Certain matters within this press release are discussed using forward-looking language as specified in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and, as such, may involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results or performance to differ from those projected in the forward-looking statement. These risks are discussed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.