Starwood Begins New Year with Record-Breaking Website Bookings for the

Starwood Begins New Year with Record-Breaking Website Bookings for the Month of January

    Business Editors

    WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 3, 2005--

Enhancements Include New Foreign Language Websites and Redesigned Sites
    Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT) kicked off 2005 with a record-breaking month of website bookings in January, generating approximately $82 million in gross Dollar bookings and easily surpassing last year's single-month record high of $68 million set in August 2004. This "company best" is a 39% increase over last January and comes on the heels of a record-setting year where gross dollar bookings on Starwood's branded websites grew 38% in 2004 over 2003.
    With more and more consumers moving to the web to book travel, Internet bookings have continued to make gains on more traditional booking channels. In fact, as of July 2004, Starwood's website bookings actually surpassed toll-free phone (1-800) consumer bookings - a major milestone in the company's bid to aggressively increase web bookings.
    "As we saw in the retail world over the holidays, consumers are rapidly and enthusiastically moving from traditional purchasing channels to the web," said Mark Koehler, Vice President, Interactive Marketing for Starwood. "By improving content and functionality and offering consumers best available rates, we continue to attract consumers to our sites where travel planning and online booking is easy to do."
    Recent enhancements to Starwood's sites include new foreign language websites and various redesigns of its branded websites.
    The new foreign language websites feature web content in four critical languages - Spanish, French, German and Japanese - making it easier for international customers to book hotel accommodations. A redesign of the company's Starwood Preferred Guest site (www.spg.com) and a sophisticated new look for Starwood's ultra-luxe St. Regis brand (www.stregis.com) were also introduced providing consumers with a more streamlined approach for making hotel reservations and accessing robust information about Starwood's award-winning hotels and resorts.
    Other new initiatives launched in 2004 included the innovative Starwood Preferred Guest Honeymoon Registry (www.spg.com/honeymoons) and Starwood Vacations (www.starwood.com/vacations) which allows guests to book all-inclusive travel packages.
    "2004 was a record-breaking year, and starting off the year with our best month ever, we anticipate significant growth in our web bookings in 2005," added Koehler. "Guests booking through our branded websites receive the best rates, unmatched service, robust content, as well as frequent guest benefits and points on our sites through a fast, efficient, and easy process."

    Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with more than 750 properties in more than 80 countries and 110,000 employees at its owned and managed properties. With internationally renowned brands, Starwood is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchisor 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 www.starwoodhotels.com

    Please contact Starwood's new, toll-free media hotline at (866) 4-STAR-PR (866-478-2777) for photography or additional information.

    JOURNALISTS - PLEASE NOTE: JOIN STARWOOD'S PRESS RELEASE ALERT SERVICE TO RECEIVE STARWOOD COMPANY NEWS AND INFORMATION. To become a member, simply access the Starwood website, at www.starwoodhotels.com/press. Once you reach the home page, simply click on "Company News", enter your e-mail address, and click "Subscribe".

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CONTACT: Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. Mark Ricci, 914-640-8496 E-mail: mark.ricci@starwoodhotels.com

KEYWORD: NEW YORK INDUSTRY KEYWORD: REAL ESTATE BUILDING/CONSTRUCTION INTERNET E-COMMERCE SOURCE: Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.

Copyright Business Wire 2005