HAMILTON, Bermuda, Orient-Express Hotels Ltd. (NYSE: OEH, www.orient-express.com), owner and operator of 50 deluxe leisure properties in 25 countries, today announced it has agreed to acquire a 100% interest in Napasai, a luxury hotel and villa development located on Koh Samui island in the Gulf of Siam, about one hour's flight from Bangkok.

The company will pay $25 million in total for the hotel, 8 adjacent villas that are available for sale and a large parcel of land suitable for development of about 40 additional villas. The hotel is being acquired for $13 million. Twelve month trailing EBITDA is over $1 million and 2006 calendar EBITDA is expected to be $1.4 million. The villas included in the sale are 8 remaining of an original 14 built (6 already sold) and are expected to be sold over the next twelve months for in excess of $6 million. The deal also includes $6 million of development land.

The property was developed by Pansea, the company's strategic partner in the South East Asia region and has been managed since its opening under the Pansea Orient-Express brand. Pansea recently acquired the full interest in the property by acquiring the shares of its local 50% partner and will now sell the property to Orient-Express Hotels.

Napasai was opened in February 2004 as a 55 key hotel together with 14 private villas for sale. The resort occupies around 100 rai of land (40 acres) in an exclusive beachfront location on the northern coast of the island. All of the existing cottages and villas which are set amidst coconut and cashew trees on sloping terrain have sea views and direct access to the beach which can only be accessed through the property. The existing resort development occupies around half of the available land leaving approximately 20 acres for further development. The island's leading golf course is close by. The famous Ang Thong marine nature reserve (the location of "The Beach" in the well known film) is a short distance by boat.

Simon Sherwood, President, said "The purchase of Napasai marks the first formal step in our agreed acquisition of the six property Pansea group of hotels. It was logical because the hotel is new and has real estate development potential which fits with our other property developments at La Samanna, St. Martin and Maroma Resort & Spa in Mexico.

"Koh Samui's proximity to the hub of Bangkok and its tranquil setting in the Gulf of Siam mean it is increasingly attracting the upper end travellers who used to go to Phuket. Special locations on the island are scarce and Napasai occupies one of the best". The hotel's occupancy is rising rapidly.

Management believes that EBITDA (net earnings adjusted for interest expense, foreign currency, tax, depreciation and amortization) is a useful measure of operating performance, for example to help determine the ability to incur capital expenditure or service indebtedness, because it is not affected by non-operating factors such as leverage and the historic cost of assets. EBITDA is also a financial performance measure commonly used in the hotel and leisure industry, although the company's EBITDA may not be comparable in all instances to that disclosed by other companies. EBITDA does not represent net cash provided by operating, investing and financing activities under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, is not necessarily indicative of cash available to fund all cash flow needs, and should not be considered as an alternative to earnings from operations or net earnings under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles for purposes of evaluating operating performance.

This news release contains, in addition to historical information, forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These include statements regarding earnings outlook, investment plans and similar matters that are not historical facts. These statements are based on management's current expectations and are subject to a number of uncertainties and risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause a difference include, but are not limited to, those mentioned in the news release, unknown effects on the travel and leisure markets of terrorist activity and any police or military response, varying customer demand and competitive considerations, realization of hotel bookings and reservations and planned property development sales as actual revenue, inability to sustain price increases or to reduce costs, fluctuations in interest rates and currency values, adequate sources of capital and acceptability of finance terms, possible loss or amendment of planning permits and delays in construction schedules for expansion or development projects, delays in reopening properties closed for repair or refurbishment and possible cost overruns, shifting patterns of tourism and business travel and seasonality of demand, adverse local weather conditions, uncertainty of recovering on insurance claims for property damage and lost earnings, changing global and regional economic conditions, and legislative, regulatory and political developments. Further information regarding these and other factors is included in the filings by the company with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Paul White
Orient-Express Hotels Ltd
+44-20-7921-4038
LVMH Hotel Management