| By Thomas Stauffer, The Arizona Daily Star, Tucson Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News Apr. 2, 2005 - A new owner bought the Westin La Paloma Resort & Spa this week, but neither guests nor the resort's 493 employees should notice much of a difference. The luxury resort at 3800 E. Sunrise Drive was purchased March 30 by SCG Tucson Properties, a local subsidiary of Starwood Capital Group. That Greenwich, Conn.-based firm owns more than 220 hotels and resorts worldwide. La Paloma, which was purchased from Caesar Parks Hotels & Resorts, is currently managed by Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc. of White Plains, N.Y. The resort will preserve its name, staff and policies, said Sally Mildren, marketing coordinator for La Paloma. "Because we've been managed through Starwood Hotels and they will continue to manage the resort, the sale will be seamless to guests and workers," Mildren said. "The Westin La Paloma is a favorite in Tucson for exceptional stays, dining and spa, and it will continue to be." Terms of the deal have yet to be disclosed, Mildren said. Opened in 1986, La Paloma sports a 27-hole golf course designed by Jack Nicklaus, a tennis and health center and 487 hotel rooms. Award-winning chef Janos Wilder moved his Janos restaurant from its Downtown digs to La Paloma in 1998. Later that year, he opened the more casual J-Bar, under the same roof. La Paloma ranked 101st in the 2005 Star 200, an annual listing of the largest employers in the region. It was the third-biggest employer in Southern Arizona's hospitality industry. ----- To see more of The Arizona Daily Star, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.azstarnet.com.
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