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                                                                 EXHIBIT 4.1

                           [LETTERHEAD OF INTERSTATE]

May 1, 2002

American Stock Transfer and Trust Company
40 Wall Street
New York, New York 10005

Attention:  Administration

                    Re: Amendment No. 2 to Rights Agreement

Ladies and Gentlemen:

    Pursuant to Section 27 of the Shareholder Rights Agreement (as amended, the
"Rights Agreement"), dated as of July 8, 1999, between Interstate Hotels
Corporation (the "Company"), and American Stock Transfer and Trust Company, as
rights agent, as amended on August 28, 2000, the Company, by resolution adopted
by its Board of Directors, hereby amends the Rights Agreement as follows:

1.  Section 1(c) of the Rights Agreement is hereby amended and restated in its
    entirety as follows:

    "(c) "AFFILIATE" and "ASSOCIATE" shall have the respective meanings ascribed
    to such terms in Rule 12b-2 of the General Rules and Regulations (the
    "Rules") under the Securities Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"),
    as in effect on the date of this Agreement; PROVIDED, HOWEVER, that a Person
    will not be deemed to be the Affiliate or Associate of another Person solely
    because either or both Persons (i) are or were directors or officers of the
    Company, or (ii) are, as of May 1, 2002, parties to the Interstate Voting
    Agreement or the Conversion Incentive Agreement, without giving effect to
    any amendment, modification or supplement to such agreements that takes
    effect after May 1, 2002; PROVIDED, FURTHER, HOWEVER, that an Exempt
    Affiliate (as defined in the Investor Agreement) shall not be deemed an
    Affiliate or Associate of the Investor, and the Investor shall not be deemed
    an Affiliate or Associate of an Exempt Affiliate."

2.  The proviso immediately before the last sentence in Section 1(d) is hereby
    amended and restated in its entirety as follows:

    "PROVIDED, HOWEVER, that (1) no Person engaged in business as an underwriter
    of securities shall be deemed the Beneficial Owner of any securities
    acquired through such Person's participation as an underwriter in good faith
    in a firm commitment underwriting until the expiration of forty (40) days
    after the date of such acquisition, (2) no Person who is a director or an
    officer of the Company shall be deemed, as a result of his or her position
    as director or officer of the Company, the Beneficial Owner of any
    securities of the Company that are Beneficially Owned by any other director
    or officer of the Company, and (3) no Person shall be deemed to be the
    Beneficial Owner or to Beneficially Own securities that are Beneficially
    Owned by another Person solely because both Persons are, as of May 1, 2002,
    parties to the Interstate Voting Agreement or the Conversion Incentive
    Agreement, without giving effect to any amendment, modification or
    supplement to such agreements that takes place after May 1, 2002."

3.  Section 1 of the Rights Agreement is hereby amended by adding the following
    new subsections (ccc), (ddd) and (eee) immediately after Section 1(bbb):

    "(ccc) "MERGER AGREEMENT" means the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as
    of May 1, 2002, by and between the Company, and MeriStar Hotels &
    Resorts, Inc., a Delaware corporation ("Acquiror").

    (ddd) "INTERSTATE VOTING AGREEMENT" means the Interstate Hotels Corporation
    Stockholder Voting and Conversion Agreement, dated as of May 1, 2002, by and
    among the Principal Capri Stockholders (as defined in the Merger Agreement)
    and Acquiror.

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    (eee) "CONVERSION INCENTIVE AGREEMENT" means the Conversion Incentive
    Agreement, dated as of May 1, 2002, by and among the Company and the
    Investor."

4.  Section 1 of the Rights Agreement is hereby amended by adding the following
    new paragraph at the end of that Section:

    "Notwithstanding anything in this Agreement to the contrary, none of
    Acquiror, any of its Affiliates or Associates or any of their permitted
    assignees or transferees shall be deemed an Acquiring Person and none of a
    Distribution Date, a Stock Acquisition Date, or a Triggering Event shall be
    deemed to occur or to have occurred, and that the Rights will not become
    separable, distributable, unredeemable or exercisable, in each such case, by
    reason or as a result of the approval, execution or delivery of the Merger
    Agreement, the Interstate Voting Agreement or the Conversion Incentive
    Agreement, or the consummation of the other transactions contemplated
    thereby."

5.  Section 7(a) of the Rights Agreement is hereby amended and restated in its
    entirety as follows:

    "(a) Subject to Section 7(e) hereof, the registered holder of any Right
Certificate may exercise the Rights evidenced thereby (except as otherwise
provided) in whole or in part at any time after the Distribution Date upon
surrender of the Right Certificate, with the form of election to purchase and
the certificate on the reverse side thereof duly executed, to the Rights Agent
at the office or offices of the Rights Agent designated for such purpose,
together with payment of the aggregate Exercise Price for the total number of
one one-thousandths of a share of Preferred Stock (or other securities, cash or
other assets, as the case may be) as to which such surrendered Rights are then
exercised, at or prior to the earliest of (i) the Close of Business on July 7,
2009 (the "Final Expiration Date"), (ii) the time at which the Rights are
redeemed as provided in Section 23 hereof, (iii) the time at which such Rights
are exchanged as provided in Section 24 hereof and (iv) immediately prior to the
Effective Time (as defined in the Merger Agreement) (the earliest of (i), (ii),
(iii) and (iv) being herein referred to as the "Expiration Date"). Except as set
forth in Section 7(e) hereof and notwithstanding any other provision of this
Agreement, any Person who prior to the Distribution Date becomes a record holder
of shares of Common Stock of the Company may exercise all of the rights of a
registered holder of a Right Certificate with respect to the Rights associated
with such shares of Common Stock of the Company in accordance with the
provisions of this Agreement, as of the date such Person becomes a record holder
of shares of Common Stock of the Company."

6.  The Rights Agreement shall not otherwise be supplemented or amended by
    virtue of this Amendment No. 2 to the Rights Agreement, but shall remain in
    full force and effect.

7.  Capitalized terms used without other definition in this Amendment No. 2 to
    the Rights Agreement shall be used as defined in the Rights Agreement.

8.  This Amendment No. 2 to the Rights Agreement shall be deemed to be a
    contract made under the laws of the State of Maryland and for all purposes
    shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of such State
    applicable to contracts to be made and to be performed entirely within
    Maryland. The courts of the State of Maryland (the "Maryland Courts") shall
    have exclusive jurisdiction over any litigation arising out of or relating
    to this Amendment No. 2 and the transactions contemplated hereby, and any
    Person commencing or otherwise involved in any such litigation shall waive
    any objection to the laying of venue of such litigation in the Maryland
    Courts and shall not plead or claim in any Maryland Court that such
    litigation brought therein has been brought in an inconvenient forum.

9.  This Amendment No. 2 to the Rights Agreement may be executed in any number
    of counterparts and each of such counterparts shall for all purposes be
    deemed to be an original, and all such counterparts shall together
    constitute but one and the same instrument.

10. This Amendment No. 2 to the Rights Agreement shall be effective as of, and
    immediately prior to, the execution and delivery of the Merger Agreement,
    and all references to the Rights Agreement

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    shall, from and after such time, be deemed to be references to the Rights
    Agreement as amended hereby.

11. Exhibit B to the Rights Agreement shall be deemed amended in a manner
    consistent with this Amendment No. 2 to the Rights Agreement.

                                              Very truly yours,

                                              INTERSTATE HOTELS CORPORATION

                                              By: Thomas F. Hewitt
                                                 ---------------------
                                                 Name: Thomas F. Hewitt
                                                 Title: Chief Executive Officer


Accepted and agreed to as of the
effective time specified above:

American Stock Transfer and Trust Company

By: /s/ HERBERT J. LEMMER
   ---------------------
   Name: Herbert J. Lemmer
   Title: Vice President