Starwood Hotels & Resorts Promotes Matthew Avril to Run Hotel Group in Streamlining of Senior Leadership Team

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT) today announced that it is restructuring its Senior Leadership Team to streamline management and better position the Company for long-term growth. Matthew E. Avril, currently Co-President of Starwood Vacation Ownership (SVO), has been named President of Starwood’s Hotel Group. He succeeds Matt Ouimet, who is leaving the company. Sergio Rivera, who has been co-heading SVO with Mr. Avril, will now have sole management responsibility for this business. Both Mr. Avril and Mr. Rivera will continue to report to Frits van Paasschen, Starwood’s President and Chief Executive Officer, and will continue to serve on Starwood’s Senior Leadership Team.

Mr. Avril, 47, will relocate to Starwood’s headquarters in White Plains, NY and, in his new role, will oversee hotel operations worldwide for Starwood’s nine hotel brands and approximately 900 properties in more than 100 countries. In addition, he will also oversee Starwood's global sales organization. Mr. Avril has more than 22 years of industry experience, including 16 years at Starwood and Vistana, a vacation ownership company that is now part of SVO. He has extensive experience managing all areas of operations, sales and marketing, association management, and shared services disciplines, and has played a key role in the growth of SVO. Prior to joining Vistana, Mr. Avril, a Certified Public Accountant, worked in public accounting for KPMG Peat Marwick.

Mr. Rivera, 46, who is currently President and Managing Director of Real Estate Development and Co-President of SVO, has been named Chief Executive Officer of SVO. Mr. Rivera will be responsible for the overall performance of Starwood's Vacation Ownership and Residential Development operations. Mr. Rivera has over 20 years of experience in the industry, including more than 17 years with the company and its predecessor Vistana.

Frits van Paasschen, President and Chief Executive Officer of Starwood Hotels and Resorts, said, "We congratulate Matt Avril on his well-deserved promotion, which reflects his important role in growing the SVO business, strong operational and leadership skills, and broad experience at Starwood and within our industry. Matt is a true team player with a passion around guest experience and we believe this appointment will ensure that Starwood continues to achieve our strategic goals and execute our growth and efficiency initiatives across all of our brands. I also look forward to working with Sergio Rivera in his new role as sole head of SVO as we continue to grow our global footprint within this very important segment of our business.”

Mr. van Paasschen added, "I continue to be impressed with the talent we have within this organization driving the growth of our brands and global footprint. As discussed on our last earnings call, in light of current economic conditions and as a result of our organic growth over the years, we are also working to streamline our organization, reduce costs, improve efficiency and ensure we are properly structured for long-term growth. Today’s management changes will streamline our senior leadership team, enable us to operate more efficiently, better serve our divisions and continue to maintain the level of service our customers expect from our global portfolio of brands.”

Mr. van Paasschen continued, "On behalf of the Board and Senior Leadership Team, I would also like to thank Matt Ouimet for his contributions to Starwood over the past two years. We wish him well in his future endeavors.”

About Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with approximately 900 properties in more than 100 countries and 155,000 employees at its owned and managed properties. Starwood Hotels is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchisor of hotels, resorts and residences with the following internationally renowned brands: St. Regis(R), The Luxury Collection(R), W(R), Westin(R), Le Meridien(R), Sheraton(R), Four Points(R) by Sheraton, and the recently launched 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.

Note: This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities regulations. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated at the time the forward-looking statements are made. Further results, performance and achievements may be affected by general economic conditions including the impact of war and terrorist activity, business and financing conditions, foreign exchange fluctuations, cyclicality of the real estate (including residential) and the hotel and vacation ownership businesses, operating risks associated with the hotel, vacation ownership and residential businesses, relationships with associates and labor unions, customers and property owners, the impact of the internet reservation channels, our reliance on technology, domestic and international political and geopolitical conditions, competition, governmental and regulatory actions (including the impact of changes in U.S. and foreign tax laws and their interpretation), travelers’ fears of exposure to contagious diseases, risk associated with the level of our indebtedness, risk associated with potential acquisitions and dispositions and the introduction of new brand concepts and other risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties are presented in detail in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Future vacation ownership units indicated in this press release include planned units on land owned by the Company or by joint ventures in which the Company has an interest that have received all major governmental land use approvals for the development of vacation ownership resorts. There can also be no assurance that such units will in fact be developed and, if developed, the time period of such development (which may be more than several years in the future). Some of the projects may require additional third-party approvals or permits for development and build out and may also be subject to legal challenges as well as a commitment of capital by the Company. The actual number of units to be constructed may be significantly lower than the number of future units indicated. There can also be no assurance that agreements will be entered into for the hotels in the Company’s pipeline and, if entered into, the timing of any agreement and the opening of the related hotel. Although we believe the expectations reflected in forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, we can give no assurance that our expectations will be attained or that results will not materially differ. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.