Starwood Hotels & Resorts Partnering with Developer Ballymore Properties Limited to Build a 198 room Westin Hotel in Birmingham, England / January 2008

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Starwood Hotels & Resorts Partnering with Developer Ballymore Properties
Limited to Build a 198 room Westin Hotel in Birmingham, England
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London 23 January 2007 - Starwood Hotels & Resorts has announced the signing of the first Westin property for England with the Westin Birmingham. Due to open in early 2010, the 198 room new build property will be the first five star hotel for the city and form part of a major mixed use development for Birmingham, the UK�s second biggest city.

Partnering with developer Ballymore Properties Limited, the luxury hotel will be located at Snow Hill, a 1 million sq ft mixed use development in central Birmingham, adjacent to Snow Hill train station. Birmingham�s city centre�s key retail and commercial areas are within walking distance and Birmingham International airport is 10km away.

In addition to the hotel and spa, the Snow Hill mixed use development, one of the largest currently in the UK, will also comprise two 12 storey office blocks, a 44 storey residential tower with 336 luxury apartments and a retail space.

The hotel will provide Birmingham city centre with an additional 1050m2 of meeting and convention space, including a 370m2 ballroom and four meeting rooms; and guests will benefit from a WestinWORKOUT Gym including a swimming pool, a spa, two restaurants, a bar and lobby lounge, one presidential suite and business centre.

Michael Wale, Senior Vice President, Director of Operations, North West Europe, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, said; �We are thrilled to be opening the first Westin property for England in Birmingham. The city has become one of the UK�s key cities for corporate, meetings and incentive business and there is strong demand for a brand like Westin to establish a presence in the region. In addition, we are very pleased to have the opportunity to work with Ballymore Properties Limited on a second European hotel project.�
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Snowhill featuring hotel (centre)
and residential tower (right).

Ballymore Director, Jonathan Haigh, said, �We are delighted to be working with a world-class operator of Starwood�s calibre to create a new five star hotel and spa at Snowhill. Their experience and track record in the luxury end of the market is exceptional and this project will further add to Birmingham�s growing status as a global city.�

Westin Hotels & Resorts has 150 hotels and resorts in more than 31 countries and territories, and is owned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT). Westin's core values centre around personal, instinctive, renewal, ensuring that guests feel better when they check out than they did when they checked in. Westin guests experience a "sensory welcome" featuring a white tea scent, signature music and lighting, plus refreshing towels and an elixir, all designed to renew.

The Westin Birmingham is the second Westin hotel for the UK, joining the 5 Red Star Westin Turnberry Resort in Ayrshire, Scotland, venue for the British Open in 2009, and the 10th hotel in the UK for Starwood Hotels & Resorts, joining sister properties under the Sheraton, Le Méridien, St Regis and Luxury Collection brands in London, Heathrow, Edinburgh and Ayrshire. In Ireland Starwood has the Westin Dublin, one of the leading luxury properties in the city centre, as well as two Sheraton�s � one in Cork and an opening in Athlone in Spring 2008, and a Luxury Collection resort opening in 2010 at Killeen Castle in County Meath. For more information visit www.starwoodhotels.com

In Europe the Westin Birmingham will join other prestigious city based Westin hotels such as the Westin Paris; the Westin Palace, Madrid; the Westin Palace, Milan; the Westin Valencia; Westin Zagreb; Westin Warsaw; and the newly re-branded Westin Frankfurt. In addition, Westin resorts such as Westin La Quinta in Marbella and the newly opened Westin Camporeal Resort, which opened this month in the Algarve. For more information visit www.westin.com.

Ballymore Properties Limited

Ballymore is an international property development, investment and property management group, specializing in large scale mixed use developments inurban areas. The company has principal offices in Dublin and London together with offices in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, France and Hungary. Ballymore has a growing hotel portfolio with the Radisson Edwardian New Providence Wharf Hotel having opened in London in 2007 and a Kempinski and Sheraton hotel on-site in Prague and Bratislava respectively, and several additional hotel proposals in the pipeline. Founded 25 years ago by Sean Mulryan, Chairman of Ballymore, the company has grown rapidly in recent years. Ballymore now has more than 50 projects in various stages of development in Europe and around the world.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts

Westin Hotels & Resorts, with 121 hotels and resorts in 31 countries and territories, is owned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with approximately 890 properties in more than 100 countries and 145,000 employees at its owned and managed properties. Starwood® Hotels is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchisor of hotels and resorts with the following internationally renowned brands: St. Regis®, The Luxury Collection®, W®, Westin®, Le Méridien®, Sheraton®, Four Points® by Sheraton, Aloft(SM), and Element(SM). Starwood Hotels also owns Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc., one of the premier developers and operators of high quality vacation interval ownership resorts. For more information, please visit www.starwoodhotels.com.

Contact:

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.
E-mail: [email protected]

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Also See:	Radisson Edwardian Hotels Opens 169 room Hotel at New Providence Wharf Overlooking River Thames, London / September 2007
	Starwood Signs Management Agreements to Operate Westin Hotels in Hyderabad, Pune and Kolkata, India / November 2007