SAN FRANCISCO (December 15, 2004) -- Stephen Alden, senior vice president of St. Regis Hotels & Resorts, a division of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. [NYSE: HOT], in conjunction with developer Carpenter & Company, Inc., has announced a projected July 2005 opening of St. Regis Hotel and Residences San Francisco, a 40-story landmark comprising a 260-room luxury hotel and 102 private residences.  Alden also announced the appointment of Elias Assaly, who served as opening general manager of the W San Francisco, as general manager of the St. Regis Hotel San Francisco.

�As we proudly celebrate the 100th anniversary of The St. Regis Hotel New York, we are entering an extremely exciting and dynamic phase in the evolution of the St. Regis brand,� said Alden.  �The San Francisco Hotel and Residences will serve as the showcase of the new St. Regis, fully expressing its eminence as the first and still the foremost luxury hotel brand in the U.S., while boldly pointing to the future and bringing to San Francisco an unprecedented standard of graceful service and elegant living.�

The hotel will share the magnificent new Skidmore, Owings & Merrill-designed building with the St. Regis Residences, 102 luxury condominiums whose owners will have access to the hotel�s full range of services and amenities. 

Located at Third and Mission streets, the St. Regis Hotel and Residences San Francisco will serve as the crowning jewel of the Yerba Buena neighborhood, adding the final flourish to the emergence of the area as a vibrant new center of gracious urban living.  Steps from the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the hotel is proximate to the Yerba Buena Gardens, the financial district, Union Square shopping, and an array of the city�s fine dining establishments.

General Manager Elias Assaly is a seasoned hotelier and well-known in San Francisco for his memorably stellar work as opening general manager of the W San Francisco, serving as a highly effective ambassador of the brand during its introduction to San Francisco and to the West Coast.  Prior assignments included positions at The Ritz-Carlton in Atlanta, Westin St. Francis in San Francisco and general managerships at luxury resorts in the Caribbean, including the five-diamond Las Casitas Village at El Conquistador.  Most recently Assaly served as managing director of the Hotel Crescent Court, a Rosewood Hotel, in Dallas.

�It is a great privilege to be entrusted with the management of the new St. Regis Hotel and Residence San Francisco,� said Assaly.  �It�s wonderful to return to the city, and I look forward to creating the St. Regis culture of excellence that will ensure both our guests and our residents an unprecedented experience of gracious living.�

The St. Regis Hotel San Francisco will include 201 guest rooms, averaging 450 square feet, and 59 suites ranging in size from 700 to more than 3,200 square feet.  From its legendary butler service, �anticipatory� guest care and impeccable staff training to the signature spa, Acqua di Parma amenities and interior design by Yabu Pushelberg of Toronto, the St. Regis Hotel San Francisco promises to deliver a guest experience of flawless service and refined elegance.

Design elements will reflect a contemporary style and the finest interior finishes.  Custom designed furniture includes a crème Barcelona bench at the foot of the bed, complementing Frette linens and robes in a custom crème hue.  Deep soaking tubs, with shutters that can be opened to the guest room, afford glorious views of the city through expansive windows.

Guests will enjoy the latest technology with plasma screen televisions and state-of-the-art electronics, including a LCD panel in the bathroom.  A digital assistant will control motorized wall coverings, recessed lighting, television, alarm, and the privacy indicator light outside the room.  The entire hotel will be Wi-Fi accessible. 

The 10,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art luxury spa features 10 treatment rooms.  A 3,700-square-foot private fitness center, available only to hotel guests and owners of St. Regis Residences, includes a 50-foot heated indoor lap pool and state-of-the-art fitness equipment with built-in LCD/DVD panels. 

A 90-seat signature fine dining restaurant will serve lunch and dinner to guests and the public.  A separate 70-seat breakfast restaurant will be available on the fourth floor.  In the tradition of The St. Regis New York bar�s famed Maxfield Parish mural, the bar at the St. Regis Hotel San Francisco will feature a contemporary mural by a commissioned artist.

There is a total of more than 15,000 square feet of indoor meeting space, including a 400-seat ballroom and 12 meeting rooms.  An outdoor terrace provides dramatic streetscape views and a reception capacity of 600.

The Williams Building, a turn-of-the-century historical structure at Third and Mission, is being rehabilitated and incorporated into the design of both the hotel and of the long-anticipated Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD).  The dramatic, three-story, 20,000-square-foot museum, which will have its own entrance on Mission Street, will forge new ground in tracing the history of the African Diaspora, marrying ancient oral story-telling tradition with cutting-edge technology.

The St. Regis Hotel San Francisco pre-opening sales office is now accepting group inquiries.  Individual hotel reservations are not being accepted currently.  Please visit STREGIS.COM for more information.

The St. Regis

The St. Regis Hotel in New York City was founded by John Jacob Astor IV in 1904 as a place where ladies and gentlemen could feel as comfortable as they would as guests in a fine private home.  Stunning for its opulence and elegance of design, the hotel also introduced Old World standards of service to the U.S., setting a new standard for New World hospitality. 

At the same time, the hotel had a distinctly �modern� edge, the first to provide telephones in every room, a fire alarm system, central heating and an air-cooling system that predated modern air conditioning.  (The hotel bar also contributed significantly to American culture:  it was the birthplace of the Bloody Mary.) 

For 100 years the majestic Beaux Art masterpiece has been the address of choice for luminaries from the worlds of entertainment, the arts, and commerce, from Marlene Dietrich and Salvadore Dali to exiled Russian prince Serge Obelensky, actress Gertrude Lawrence, and media giant William Paley.

About the Principals

The St. Regis Hotel San Francisco and St. Regis Residences is a joint venture of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., developer Carpenter & Company, Inc., and local development partner F.E. Jordan Associates of San Francisco in cooperation with the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency and the City of San Francisco.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with more than 740 properties in more than 80 countries and 105,000 employees at its owned and managed properties.  With internationally renowned brands, Starwood is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchiser of hotels and resorts including:  St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, Sheraton, Westin, Four Points by Sheraton, W brands, as well as Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc., one of the premier developers and operators of high quality vacation interval ownership resorts.  For more information, please visit STREGIS.COM.

Carpenter & Company, Inc. of Cambridge, Massachusetts, owner/developer of the St. Regis Hotel San Francisco and the St. Regis Residences, is a nationally recognized development firm with substantial hotel and condominium experience including the Charles Square complex in Cambridge and the Hilton Boston Logan hotel.  Carpenter is also Starwood's partner in the development of the 1,200-room Headquarters Hotel at the Massachusetts Convention Center development in Boston.