Starwood Hotels & Resorts Announces the Westin Lombard, Yorktown Center in Lombard, Illinois; Westin Debuts in Thriving Chicago Suburb with 500-Room Hotel and Conference Center

"We are thrilled to be working with Mid-America and to be managingThe Westin Lombard, Yorktown Center," said Sue Brush, senior vicepresident of Westin Hotels & Resorts. "Lombard is located in a vibrantand energetic section of DuPage County, appealing to business, groupand leisure travelers seeking Westin's distinctive renewalexperience."

"Westin is a progressive and innovative global brand thatcontinually surpasses its guests' expectations," said Tom McGuigan,managing director of Mid-America Hotel Partners, LLC., the project'sdeveloper and asset manager. "The Westin brand is consistently ratedas the finest in the upper-upscale segment of the industry serving asa perfect match with the Village of Lombard's vision for thisproperty. This hotel will be a huge asset to the many corporateoffices located in the Lombard area, such as Sara Lee and McDonald'sCorporation, as well as a meetings destination."

The L-shaped hotel tower will soar to 18 stories in height andoffer private terraces for several suites. Westin's signature serviceand amenities will abound throughout the hotel, including the popularHeavenly Bed(R), Heavenly Bath(R) in each guest room, thenewly-introduced WestinWORKOUT(R) Powered by Reebok fitness center andWestinWORKOUT guest rooms.

The Westin Lombard, Yorktown Center will cater to business andsocial clientele alike. Fully equipped with more than 50,000 squarefeet of meeting space and 15,000 square feet of pre-function space,this new facility will be capable of accommodating large conventions,exhibitions, corporate retreats, association social gatherings,weddings, exclusive celebrations, and private dining events. Adistinctive element of the meeting space is a 20,000-square-foot GrandBallroom, the largest of its kind in the market.

Harry Caray's Restaurant Group will operate a 10,000-square-footHarry Caray's Restaurant, and its new restaurant concept, a6,000-square-foot, Holy Mackerel! American Fish House in the Westin.Harry Caray's Restaurant, named for the late Hall of Fame baseballannouncer, first opened in the heart of Chicago's River North in 1987and is now one of the most nationally recognized restaurants in theMidwest.

Westin Hotels & Resorts, with 121 hotels and resorts in 31countries and territories, is owned by Starwood Hotels & ResortsWorldwide, Inc. and was ranked "Highest in Guest Satisfaction AmongUpscale Hotels Chains." in the J.D. Power and Associates' 2004 NorthAmerica Hotel Guest Satisfaction Study(SM) and voted Best DomesticHotel Chain by Global Traveler Magazine. Starwood Hotels & ResortsWorldwide, Inc. is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies inthe world with approximately 750 properties in more than 80 countriesand 120,000 employees at its owned and managed properties. Withinternationally renowned brands, Starwood(R) corporation is a fullyintegrated owner, operator and franchisor of hotels and resortsincluding: St. Regis(R), The Luxury Collection(R), Sheraton(R),Westin(R), Four Points(R) by Sheraton, and W(R), Hotels and Resorts aswell as Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc., one of the premierdevelopers and operators of high quality vacation interval ownershipresorts. For more information, please visit www.starwoodhotels.com

(Note: This press release contains forward-looking statementswithin the meaning of federal securities regulations. Forward-lookingstatements are not guarantees of future performance or events andinvolve risks and uncertainties and other factors that may causeactual results or events to differ materially from those anticipatedat the time the forward-looking statements are made. These risks anduncertainties include the risk that the transaction itself will not beconsummated, that the anticipated benefits of the transaction willactually be realized as well as other risks and uncertaintiespresented in detail in our filings with the Securities and ExchangeCommission. Although we believe the expectations reflected in suchforward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, wecan give no assurance that our expectations will be attained or thatresults and events will not materially differ. We undertake noobligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement,whether as a result of new information.)

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