Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. Prices Public Offering of 8.0% Series D Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock

ALISO VIEJO, Calif., April 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE: SHO) (the "Company") announced today that it has priced an underwritten public offering of 4,000,000 shares of its 8.0% Series D Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock (the "Series D Preferred Shares") for gross proceeds of $100.0 million. The underwriters have been granted a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 600,000 Series D Preferred Shares to cover over-allotments, if any.

The joint book-running managers for this offering are J.P. Morgan, BofA Merrill Lynch and Wells Fargo Securities. The senior co-managers for this offering are Barclays Capital, Citi, Deutsche Bank Securities, and Morgan Stanley. The junior co-managers for this offering are Baird, FBR Capital Markets, KeyBanc Capital Markets, and Stifel Nicolaus Weisel.

The Company expects to contribute the net proceeds from this offering to Sunstone Hotel Partnership, LLC, its wholly owned subsidiary (the "Operating Partnership"), in exchange for additional membership units in the Operating Partnership. The Operating Partnership will subsequently use those net proceeds primarily for growth capital expenditures, future acquisitions and other general corporate purposes, including working capital.

The Series D Preferred Shares are being offered pursuant to an effective registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and may be made only by means of a prospectus. A copy of the prospectus relating to the offering will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and, when available, can be obtained from the offices of J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, at 383 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10179, Attn: High Grade Syndicate Desk – 3rd Floor, telephone: (212) 834-4533, of Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, at 100 West 33rd Street, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10001, Attn: Syndicate Operations, telephone: (800) 294-1322, email: [email protected], or Wells Fargo Securities, LLC at Attn: Syndicate Operations, 1525 West W.T. Harris Blvd., NC0675, Charlotte, NC 28262, telephone: (800) 326-5897, email: [email protected].

This communication shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which the offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of that state or jurisdiction.

About Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc.

Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE: SHO) is a lodging real estate investment trust ("REIT") that, upon the completion of the announced acquisition and disposition, will own 33 hotels comprised of 13,457 rooms.  Sunstone's hotels are primarily in the upper upscale segment and are generally operated under nationally recognized brands, such as Marriott, Fairmont, Hilton and Hyatt. For further information, please visit Sunstone's website at www.sunstonehotels.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws and regulations. These forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "predict," "project," "should," "will" and other similar terms and phrases, including references to assumptions and forecasts of future results. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results to differ materially from those anticipated at the time the forward-looking statements are made. These risks include, but are not limited to: volatility in the debt or equity markets affecting our ability to acquire or sell hotel assets; national and local economic and business conditions, including the likelihood of a prolonged U.S. recession; the ability to maintain sufficient liquidity and our access to capital markets; potential terrorist attacks, which would affect occupancy rates at our hotels and the demand for hotel products and services; operating risks associated with the hotel business; risks associated with the level of our indebtedness and our ability to meet covenants in our debt and equity agreements; relationships with property managers and franchisors; our ability to maintain our properties in a first-class manner, including meeting capital expenditure requirements; our ability to compete effectively in areas such as access, location, quality of accommodations and room rate structures; changes in travel patterns, taxes and government regulations, which influence or determine wages, prices, construction procedures and costs; our ability to identify, successfully compete for and complete acquisitions; the performance of hotels after they are acquired; necessary capital expenditures and our ability to fund them and complete them with minimum disruption; our ability to continue to satisfy complex rules in order for us to qualify as a REIT for federal income tax purposes; and other risks and uncertainties associated with our business described in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Although the Company believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that the expectations will be attained or that any deviation will not be material. All forward-looking information in this release is as of April 1, 2011, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to conform the statement to actual results or changes in the Company's expectations.

For Additional Information:

Bryan Giglia
Senior Vice President – Corporate Finance
Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc.
(949) 382-3036

SOURCE Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc.