Crestline Hotels & Resorts, which already had a contract to manage the Courtyard by Marriott Baltimore Inner Harbor, will also manage the other three properties for Barceló Crestline.

The 175-unit Homewood Suites by Hilton in DC is located at 1475 Massachusetts Ave. The hotel has five meeting rooms totaling 2,300 sf. The Courtyard by Marriott Providence, located at 32 Exchange Terrace, is a 216-key property with five meeting rooms comprising 3,500 sf. Located at 10 E. Grand Ave., the 357-room Hilton Garden Inn has seven meeting rooms comprising 5,727 sf. The Courtyard by Marriott Baltimore Inner Harbor, at 1000 Aliceanna St, has 205 rooms and five meeting rooms consisting of 2,252 sf.

"These four properties are an excellent complement to our portfolio," says Bruce Wardinski, chairman and CEO of Barceló Crestline, in a statement. "Each of the hotels is in a prime business destination that also benefits from leisure travelers.

Financing for the transaction was provided by Merrill Lynch. Barceló Crestline did not disclose the purchase price. In the DC area, though, hotels are trading between $225,000 to $350,000 per key, depending on several variables, according to Vikram Antin, an associate in Marcus & Millichap REIBC's National Hospitality Group. He says it can be very difficult to estimate a portfolio trade based on what individual hotels might have traded.

"According to my research, the Homewood Suites property in DC that was owned by RLJ was purchased by them for $22.5 million in 2001 at $128,500 per key," he says. "Again, since this is a portfolio sale of several other properties, it is hard to say for what the specific property could have traded." "However, if one were to assume the prices at which properties in DC are trading then one can expect that the DC asset value may have been in the $45 million to $55 million range."

Barceló Crestline did not return calls in time for publication.