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                                                                    EXHIBIT 99.5

                    [LETTERHEAD OF SALOMON SMITH BARNEY INC.]





The Board of Directors
MeriStar Hospitality Corporation
1010 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C.  20007

Members of the Board:

We hereby consent to the inclusion of our opinion letter as Appendix D to, and
to the reference thereto under the caption "SUMMARY -- Opinions of Financial
Advisors -- MeriStar" and "THE MERGER -- Opinion of MeriStar's Financial
Advisor" in, the Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus of FelCor Lodging Trust
Incorporated ("FelCor") and MeriStar Hospitality Corporation ("MeriStar")
relating to the proposed merger involving FelCor and MeriStar, which Joint Proxy
Statement/Prospectus is part of the Registration Statement on Form S-4 of
FelCor. By giving such consent, we do not thereby admit that we are experts with
respect to any part of such Registration Statement within the meaning of the
term "expert" as used in, or that we come within the category of persons whose
consent is required under, the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the rules
and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission promulgated
thereunder.



                                           By  /s/ SALOMON SMITH BARNEY INC.
                                               ---------------------------------
                                               SALOMON SMITH BARNEY INC.






New York, New York
June 7, 2001