Winston Hotels Announces Dividends for First Quarter

Press Release: Winston Hotels, Inc.
March 15, 2001
RALEIGH, NC -- Winston Hotels, Inc. (NYSE: WXH), yesterday announced that its Board of Directors has declared the Company's regular quarterly cash dividend distributions on its common and preferred shares.

The Board declared a cash dividend of $0.28 per common share for the first quarter of 2001. The cash dividend is payable on April 16, 2001 to shareholders of record on March 30, 2001. The Company currently has approximately 16.9 million common shares outstanding. Based on today's closing price of $8.72 per common share, the annualized dividend yield is 12.8%.

The Board also declared a cash dividend of $0.578125 per preferred share for the first quarter of 2001. The cash dividend is payable on April 16, 2001, to preferred shareholders of record on March 30, 2001. The Company currently has 3.0 million preferred shares outstanding.

About the Company

Raleigh, North Carolina-based Winston Hotels, Inc., is a real estate investment trust specializing in the development, acquisition and rehabilitation of premium limited-service, high-end extended-stay and full-service hotel properties, with a portfolio increasingly weighted toward the leading brands in the lodging industry's upscale segment. The Company currently owns 49 operating hotels with 6,723 rooms in 12 states, as well as a 49 percent ownership interest in two operating hotels and a third joint venture hotel under development. Winston has also formed a strategic alliance with Noble Investment Group Ltd. to provide mezzanine financing and to co-develop two Hilton Garden Inn hotels in Atlanta and Tampa.

      For more information, call Patti Bell, Investor Relations Manager
                 Of Winston Hotels, Inc., at (919) 510-8003.

                    For more information on Winston Hotels
        visit the Winston Hotels page at http://www.winstonhotels.com


SOURCE: Winston Hotels, Inc.