Named after its founder's wife,[2] it is organized in Maryland and its principal office is in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

As of December 31, 2019, the company wholly owned 38 hotels comprising 6,104 rooms and partially owned 9 hotels comprising 1,425 rooms, all of which were on either the West Coast of the United States or the East Coast of the United States.

[3] In January 1979, Indian-American immigrant Hasu P. Shah and his wife, Hersha, bought an 11-room motel near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

[5] Before acquiring The Ritz-Carlton, Georgetown for $49.9 million,[6][7] Hersha sold seven of its Manhattan hotels in February 2016 to a joint venture with Chinese company Cindat Capital Management.

[8][6] In August 2023, private equity firm KSL Capital Partners announced an agreement to purchase Hersha for $10.00 per share, for a total of $1.4 billion.