The first property is the 132-room Hilton Garden Inn within the Raritan Center business park here. Located at 50 Raritan Center Parkway, the asset is within walking distance of the New Jersey Convention and Exhibition Center. The second hotel, the 148-room Hampton Inn in nearby Linden is located within five miles of Newark Liberty International Airport. Terms of the transactions, including sale prices, were not disclosed.

"Both hotels are less than a year old, in great physical condition and include many enhancements over and above their brands' prototypical standards," according to Hasu P. Shah, HHT's CEO. "The properties are ideally located between our hotel clusters in New York and Philadelphia and possess strong barriers to new competition.

"The acquisitions further our strategy of purchasing three- to four-star, institutional-grade assets between the Boston and Washington metro markets," adds Shah, whose firm now has a hotel portfolio of 21 properties.