Ashford Hospitality Trust Inc.

Mr. Monty Bennett was elected to the board of directors in May 2003 and has served as the Chief Executive Officer since that time. Prior to January 2009, Mr. Bennett also served as our president. Mr. Bennett also serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Remington Holdings, L.P. Mr. Bennett joined Remington Hotel Corporation (predecessor to Remington Holdings, LP) in 1992 and has served in several key positions, such as President, Executive Vice President, Director of Information Systems, General Manager and Operations Director. Mr. Monty Bennett is the son of Mr. Archie Bennett, Jr.

Mr. Brooks is the Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel of Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc. He had previously served as the Chief Legal Officer, Head of Transactions and Secretary of the Company; Executive Vice President and General Counsel of the Company's predecessor and served in the same capacity for Ashford Financial Corporation where he was responsible for the management and oversight of the asset management department, the acquisition group, financing, development and the legal affairs of both companies. Prior to that time, Mr. Brooks served as a partner with the law firm of Sheinfeld, Maley & Kay.

Mr. Kimichik has served as the Chief Financial Officer and Head of Asset Management for Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc. since May 2003. He has been associated with the principals of the Company's predecessor for the past 24 years and was President of Ashford Financial Corporation from 1992 until August 2003. Mr. Kimichik previously served as Executive Vice President of Mariner Hotel Corporation, in which capacity he administered all corporate activities, including business development, financial management and operations. During his involvement with Ashford Financial Corporation, Mr. Kimichik played an integral role in the acquisition of 160 hotel assets and mortgage loans secured by hotel assets with book values in excess of $800 million.

Mr. Nunneley has served as the Chief Accounting Officer of Ashford Hospitality Trust since May 2003. From 1992 to 2003, Mr. Nunneley served as Chief Financial Officer of the Company's predecessor. He previously served as a tax consultant at Arthur Andersen & Company and as a tax manager at Deloitte & Touche. During his career, he has been responsible for the preparation, consultation and review of federal and state income tax, franchise and sales and use tax returns for hundreds of partnerships, corporations and individuals. Mr. Nunneley is a certified public accountant and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Texas Society of CPAs and Dallas Chapter of AICPAs.

Mr. Tallis oversees the asset management functions of the Company. A 27-year industry veteran, Mr. Tallis was previously a senior advisor to Blackstone Real Estate Advisors following its acquisition of La Quinta Corporation, where he was President and Chief Development Officer of LQ Management LLC and President of La Quinta Franchising LLC. Mr. Tallis has held numerous executive positions both at La Quinta Corporation and Red Roof Inns, Inc. During his tenure with both organizations, he was responsible for implementing growth strategies that included developing and implementing programs to franchise both brands.

Mr. Bennett started in the hotel industry in 1968 with the development and management of the Holiday Inn in Galveston, Texas. Since that time, he has been involved with hundreds of hotel properties, the value of which exceeds $1 billion. He is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and is a recognized authority on the subjects of hotel development, acquisitions, sales, and management. He has been featured in national business and industry publications including National Real Estate Investor, Hotel/ Motel Management, Lodging Hospitality and Commercial Real Estate News. Mr. Bennett was a founding member of Industry Real Estate Finance Advisory Council (IREFAC) of the American Hotel & Motel Association and served as its chairman on two separate occasions.

Dr. Ansell has been nominated to serve on the board of directors commencing with our 2009 annual meeting. Dr. Ansell is the founder of and currently Director and Chairman of the Board of the UCLA Executive Health Program, where he has been responsible for marketing and selling executive health program services to more than twenty Fortune 500 companies and 1,100 individual customers within the first five year of operations. Dr. Ansell is the founder and chairman of the board of the Cardiovascular Discovery Fund. Dr. Ansell is also a senior practice physician specializing in cardiovascular disease prevention and early detection strategies. Over the past 12 years, Dr. Ansell has acted as senior advisor to the pharmaceutical industry with respect to U.S. marketing, sales and branding strategies for cholesterol medication.

Mr. Edelman was elected to the board of directors in August 2003 and has served on our board since that time. Since 2000, Mr. Edelman has served as Of Counsel to Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP. From 1972 to 2000, he served as a partner at Battle Fowler LLP. Mr. Edelman has been a real estate advisor to Grove Investors and is a partner at Fisher Brothers, a real estate partnership. He is a director of Capital Trust, Inc and Avis/Budget Group, Inc.

Mr. Payne was elected to the board of directors in August 2003 and has served on our board since that time. Mr. Payne is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Babcock & Brown Residential LLC, a role he assumed in February 2007, when BNP Residential Properties, Inc., an AMEX-listed real estate investment trust of which Mr. Payne was Chairman, went private. Mr. Payne joined BNP Residential in 1990 as Vice President Capital Market Activities and became Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in January 1993. He was named Treasurer in April 1995, a director in December 1997, and was elected Chairman in 2004. Mr. Payne maintains a license to practice law in Virginia. He is a member of the board of directors and chairman of the audit committee for Meruelo Maddux Properties, Inc., a NASDAQ Global Markets listed company that focuses on residential, industrial and commercial development in southern California.

Mr. Toppino is a Senior Managing Director at Eastdil Secured which is a real estate investment bank that is a wholly owned subsidiary of Wells Fargo & Company. Mr. Toppino leads Eastdil Secured’s loan sale business and also helps in coordinating that line of business with other lines of business which include investment property sales and debt and equity financings for commercial real estate and hospitality properties. Mr. Toppino also serves on Eastdil Secured’s Management Committee. Eastdil Secured is the successor entity via acquisition of Secured Capital Corp., a company Mr. Toppino and others founded in 1990 and where he served as the Executive Vice President and principal. Mr. Toppino is also a director of Secured Capital Japan Co. Ltd., which is a corporation incorporated under the law of Japan and a public company that trades on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Secured Capital Japan is an investment manager and asset manager of Japanese commercial real estate properties and Japanese loan portfolios.

Mr. Callahan was elected to the board of directors in November 2008. Mr. Callahan is currently Co-President and Chief Executive Officer of PKF Consulting, Inc. a national real estate advisory firm specializing in the hospitality industry, with responsibility for the overall operations and management of the company. Prior to forming PKF Consulting, Inc., in 1992, Mr. Callahan was Deputy Managing Partner of Pannell Kerr Forster, an international public accounting firm specializing in the hospitality industry.

Mr. Murphy was elected to the board of directors in August 2003 and has served on our board since that time. Mr. Murphy also serves as Executive Vice President of the First Fidelity Mortgage Corporation. From 1998 to 2002 Mr. Murphy served as the Senior Vice President and Chief Development Officer of ResortQuest International, Inc., a public, NYSE-listed company. Prior to joining ResortQuest, from 1995 to 1997, he was President of Footprints International, a company involved in the planning and development of environmentally friendly hotel properties. From 1994 to 1996, Mr. Murphy was a Senior Managing Director of Geller & Co., a Chicago-based hotel advisory and asset management firm. Mr. Murphy has twice been Co-Chairman of IREFAC.

Mr. Minami has been one of our directors since September 2004. Since 2003, he has been President of Billy Casper Golf LLC. From 2001 to 2002, he served as President of Charles E. Smith Residential Realty, Inc., a REIT that was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. In this capacity, Mr. Minami was responsible for the development, construction, acquisition and property management of over 22,000 high-rise apartments in five major U.S. markets. He resigned from this position after completing the transition and integration of Charles E. Smith Residential Realty, Inc. from an independent public company to a division of Archstone-Smith, an apartment company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. From 1997 to 2001, Mr. Minami worked as Chief Financial Officer and then Chief Operating Officer of Charles E. Smith Residential Realty, Inc. Prior to 1997, Mr. Minami served in various financial service capacities for numerous entities, including Ascent Entertainment Group, Comsat Corporation, Oxford Realty Services Corporation and Satellite Business Systems. Mr. Minami serves as a director of Ashford Hospitality Trust. Mr. Minami earned his B.A. in Economics, with honors, from Grinnell College and his M.B.A. in Finance from the University of Chicago.