Sunstone Appoints Arthur L. Buser as President

Replaces Company Founder Bob Alter on July 21, will Become CEO by July 2009

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. October 14, 2008

SAN CLEMENTE, CA, June 19, 2008. Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE: SHO) announced today that Arthur L. Buser has been appointed President effective July 21, 2008. Upon the completion of a transition period that is expected to conclude no later than July 1, 2009, Mr. Buser will be appointed Chief Executive Officer. During the transition period, Bob Alter will remain Chief Executive Officer and Executive Chairman of the board of directors. Upon Mr. Buser's appointment to Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Alter will remain as Executive Chairman.

"I am pleased to announce that we have reached an agreement with Art Buser to become Sunstone's CEO," said Bob Alter, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "Art brings over 31 years of hospitality industry experience, including 15 years of real estate transaction and asset management experience, to Sunstone. His wealth of hospitality experience encompasses all facets of our business, including acquisitions, dispositions, asset management and capital markets. The board selected Art from a distinguished and highly qualified field of candidates during a comprehensive search process. The board was focused on selecting a leader who would work well within Sunstone's culture, who has the skills to optimize the performance of our high-quality portfolio, and who has the vision to set a strategy that will maximize long-term returns to our stockholders. I am confident that Art has the integrity, passion and dedication to excel as CEO of Sunstone."

For the 11 years prior to joining Sunstone, Mr. Buser served in a variety of roles at Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels Americas ("JLLH Americas"), most recently serving as Head of Global Hotel Capital Markets, responsible for oversight of hotel equity and debt transactions. Mr. Buser also served as a member of JLLH Americas' board of directors, and previously served as President of Hotel Capital Markets, which closed transactions in excess of $4.5 billion in 2007.

Prior to joining JLLH Americas, Mr. Buser held various management positions in acquisitions and asset management at The Yarmouth Group. Prior to the Yarmouth Group, Mr. Buser held positions in operations and financial analysis at Hilton Hotels Corporation. Mr. Buser holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Hotel Administration from the Cornell School of Hotel Administration, as well as an MBA from The UCLA Anderson School of Management. Art is married and currently resides in Santa Monica, California. The Busers plan to relocate to Orange County, California, near Sunstone's corporate offices.

"I am extremely excited about this opportunity and would like to thank Bob and the board for selecting me to lead this great company," said Mr. Buser. "I intend to work with the senior management team to set a competitively-edged strategy focused on optimizing Sunstone's high quality portfolio, resulting in what is most important: strong returns to our stockholders."