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PHOENIX, April 2, 1998 - - Starwood
Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT - news), will launch
W Hotels, a new brand of business hotels to debut nationwide beginning
in Fall 1998. The announcement was
made today by Barry Sternlicht, Chairman of the Board of Directors
of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide,
Inc., and Chairman and CEO of Starwood Hotels & Resorts.
The innovative W group, which will initially comprise 10 hotels opening
in major U.S. cities over the next 15
months, is designed to provide discerning business travelers with a
comfortable, sophisticated place to stay quite unlike anything they've
ever experienced in a business hotel.
Says Sternlicht, ``We feel that the launch of W Hotels represents an
important evolution in the hotel industry, a
unique union of style and substance. All W Hotels will offer the highest
level of service to meet every business
need and the benefits of our Starwood guest programs, while each property
will have its own distinct personality
and a strong, very smart sense of style -- something which really doesn't
exist in the business travel market
today.''
Featuring a residential feel in the guestrooms and a hip, urban style
throughout, W will offer the personality and
individuality of an independent, boutique hotel yet also guarantee
the reliability and superior level of business
amenities and services which business travelers require.
W hotels will be located in major cities across the U.S., the first
three opening in New York City. The first W New
York will open in Fall 1998 at 541 Lexington Avenue, in what is currently
the Doral Inn. Two other properties,
currently the Doral Tuscany and Doral Court at 120 and 130 East 39th
Street respectively, will debut in early 1999.
Seven additional W hotels are scheduled to open by June 1999 in cities
to include Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle,
San Francisco and Denver. While sharing a common aesthetic and standard
of service, each W will have its own
distinct personality, bringing together the best of what each city
has to offer. The properties will range in size
from approximately 120 to 450 rooms.
The W guestroom will be an oasis of relaxed elegance, designed for exceptional
comfort in a sophisticated urban
style. W trademarks will include a luxurious bed, oversized mahogany
desk, chaise lounge, natural fabrics
throughout and specially designed room accessories. Commented Hilary
Billings, Senior Vice President of Brand
Development and Design for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide,
Inc., ``We are taking a very basic, yet
completely novel approach to the design of W hotels. I think there
are a lot of business travelers who need to get
their job done, yet want the same level of style and comfort in hotels
that they enjoy in their own homes, and W
is going to provide that.''
For doing business at W hotels, every need will be anticipated and fulfilled,
from E-mail to business services to
scanners, printers and the latest computer equipment. Also, all W guests
will enjoy the benefits and perks of the
upcoming Starwood international reservations system and premier membership
program -- debuting this fall as
the world's largest, encompassing all W, Westin and ITT/Sheraton hotels
worldwide.
Among the guest facilities planned at W hotels are a comfortable, active
lobby for relaxing or socializing; an
intimate cafe and newsstand open throughout the day and night for a
quick bite or drink; a first-class,
independent restaurant designed to attract guests and locals alike,
and a health club with the most advanced
equipment available. In addition, some W hotels will offer spa services.
As for the W name, Sternlicht explains, ``W is for witty, warm, wonderful. Essentially, it is for 'wonder why no one has ever done this before.'''
W hotels are managed by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.,
a hotel operating and management
company whose shares are paired and trade together as a unit with Starwood
Hotels & Resorts, the nation's
largest hotel real estate investment trust
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