Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc. is a self-advised real estate investment trust (REIT). The Company owns its lodging investments and conducts its business through Ashford Hospitality Limited Partnership, its operating partnership. Ashford OP General Partner LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, serves as the sole general partner of the operating partnership. The Company operates in two business segments within the hotel lodging industry: direct hotel investments and hotel financing. As of December 31, 2008, it owned 97 hotel properties directly and six hotel properties through equity investments with joint venture partners, which represented 23,255 total rooms (22,913 net rooms) excluding those attributable to joint venture partners. The Company’s hotels are operated under the brands of Crown Plaza, Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, Sheraton and Westin. All these hotels are located in the United States.