PHILADELPHIA-LaSalle Hotel Properties recently acquired two hotels here for $224 million from HEI Hotels & Resorts. The Bethesda, MD-based firm paid $145 million for the Westin Philadelphia and $79 million for the Embassy Suites - Philadelphia.

Management says in a press release that its acquired the assets because they are surrounded by numerous businesses and are near the expanding convention center. LaSalle paid for the hotels through a combination of asset sales, borrowing form senior unsecured credit and the issueance of common shares.

The 294-room Westin is located at 99 South 17th Street. It is part of the 2.5-million-square-foot Liberty Place mixed-use complex that includes Class A offices and 70 retail stores.

The Embassy Suites, which offers 288 rooms, is one block from Logan Square. When the Philadelphia Convention Center's expansion is completed, its new entrance will only be four blocks from the hotel.

One industry observer, Andrew Benioff, managing partner of local investment and advisory firm Llenrock Group, is skeptical about the price LaSalle paid for the properties. "I am floored at the price these guys paid," he tells GlobeSt.com. "That is a pretty penny for Philadelphia."

However, Benioff, who questions the returns the firm will get from the transaction, concedes that LaSalle's management is very capable and he could be proven wrong. A LaSalle spokesman did not return comment by GlobeSt.com's deadline for the article.

In other news, LaSalle also purchased the Hotel Monaco in San Francisco for $68.5 million from Kimpton Hotels. It currently owns 34 hotels in 15 markets. HEI will continue to manage both Philadelphia assets.