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                                                                    EXHIBIT 31.1

                                CEO CERTIFICATION

I, Howard A. Silver, certify that:

1.    I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K of Equity Inns, Inc. (the
"Company");

2.    Based on my knowledge, this annual report does not contain any untrue
statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make
the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements
were made, not misleading with respect to the periods covered by this annual
report.

3.    Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
information included in this annual report, fairly present in all material
respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the
Company as of, and for, the periods presented in this annual report;

4.    The registrant's other certifying officer and I are responsible for
establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in
Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial
reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d- 15(f)) for the
registrant and have:

      (a)   Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such
disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to
ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its
consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities,
particularly during the period in which this annual report is being prepared;

      (b)   Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused
such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our
supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of
financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external
purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;

      (c)   Evaluated the effectiveness of the Company's disclosure controls and
procedures and presented in this quarterly report our conclusions about the
effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures based on our evaluation
as of the end of the period covered by this annual report;

      (d)   Disclosed in this annual report any change in the Company's internal
controls over financial reporting that occurred during the Company's fiscal year
ended December 31, 2004 that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to
materially to affect, the Company's internal controls over financial reporting.

5.    The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on
our most recent evaluation of internal controls over financial reporting, to the
registrant's auditors and the audit committee of the registrant's Board of
Directors (or persons performing the equivalent function):

      (a)   all significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design
or operation of internal controls over financial reporting which are reasonably
likely to adversely affect the Company's ability to record, process, summarize
and report financial information; and

      (b)   any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or
other employees who have a significant role in the registrant's internal
controls over financial reporting.

Date: March 16, 2005           /s/ Howard A. Silver
                               --------------------
                               Howard A. Silver
                               President and Chief Executive Officer