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EXHIBIT 99.1

                            CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO
                  SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002

I, A.F. Petrocelli, Chief Executive Officer of Prime Hospitality Corp., certify
that:

1.       I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Prime Hospitality
         Corp.;

2.       Based on my knowledge, this quarterly 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 period covered by this quarterly report;

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

4.       The registrant's other certifying officers and I are responsible for
         establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as
         defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-14 and 15d-14) for the registrant and
         we have:

                  a.       designed such disclosure controls and procedures 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
                           quarterly report is being prepared;

                  b.       evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's
                           disclosure controls and procedures as of a date
                           within 90 days prior to the filing date of this
                           quarterly report (the "Evaluation Date"); and

                  c.       presented in this quarterly report our conclusions
                           about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls
                           and procedures based on our evaluation as of the
                           Evaluation Date;

5.       The registrant's other certifying officers and I have disclosed, based
         on our most recent evaluation, to the registrant's auditors and the
         audit committee of registrant's board of directors (or persons
         performing the equivalent function):

                  a.       all significant deficiencies in the design or
                           operation of internal controls which could adversely
                           affect the registrant's ability to record, process,
                           summarize and report financial data and have
                           identified for the registrant's auditors any material
                           weaknesses in internal controls; 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; and

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6.       The registrant's other certifying officers and I have indicated in this
         quarterly report whether or not there were significant changes in
         internal controls or in other factors that could significantly affect
         internal controls subsequent to the date of our most recent evaluation,
         including any corrective actions with regard to significant
         deficiencies and material weaknesses.

Date: May 14, 2003

                                             /s/ A.F. Petrocelli
                                             -----------------------
                                             A. F. Petrocelli
                                             Chief Executive Officer