NORFOLK, NE--(Marketwire - Jul 26, 2012) - Supertel Hospitality, Inc. (NASDAQ: [ SPPR ]), a real estate investment trust (REIT), today announced that it closed on the sale of a Super 8 hotel in Watertown, South Dakota on July 25, 2012, at a sale price of $1.55 million. The company used the proceeds from the sale to retire the mortgage on the property, and the balance went to reduce the company's short term borrowings.

"Built in 1977 and acquired by Supertel in 1994, the Watertown Super 8 has long been a solid performer in our portfolio, but due to its age and position along the chain scale spectrum, the asset no longer met our investment criteria," said Kelly Walters, Supertel's President and CEO. "The sale was guided by our business plan to divest of economy properties to provide funding for the acquisition of premium-branded select-service hotels in locations with solid demographics." 

The company has taken significant steps to strengthen its balance sheet by paying down approximately $28.3 million of debt since the beginning of the year. Year to date the company has sold seven non-core assets generating gross proceeds of approximately $14 million.

About Supertel Hospitality, Inc.

Supertel Hospitality, Inc. (NASDAQ: [ SPPR ]) is a self-administered real estate investment trust that specializes in the ownership of select-service hotels. The company currently owns 94 hotels comprising 8,283 rooms in 23 states. Supertel's hotels are franchised by a number of the industry's most well-regarded brand families, including Hilton, IHG, Choice and Wyndham. 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.