Starwood To Open 47 New Hotels By End 2003

WHITE PLAINS, NY— From the heart of New York Citys Times Square to the islands of the Mediterranean to Thailands exotic Krabi island, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide currently has 47 new hotels under construction in choice destinations slated to open later this year and in 2003. In the last few months, Starwood has debuted several major new hotels including the 509-room W New York- Times Square, and the 1,000-room Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa in Hollywood, FL. Several other major hotels are scheduled to open soon. Within the St. Regis/Luxury Collection, new properties include: – The St. Regis Resort, Spa and Residences in Fort Lauderdale, FL opening 2003 – 197 rooms; – The 100 villa Rayavadee (a Luxury Collection hotel) in Krabi, Thailand opening 2002; – The 140-room Mardavall Resort & Spa (a Luxury Collection hotel), in Palma de Mallorca, Spain opening June 2002; – The 120-room Hotel Bora Bora Nui Resort & Spa (a Luxury Collection hotel) in Bora Bora, French Polynesia opening July 2002; – The 364-room Hotel Grande Bretagne (formerly a Sheraton hotel now re-branded as a Luxury Collection hotel) in Athens, Greece that’s currently closed for renovations, but re-opening Spring 2003. The W brand’s newest hotels include: the 253-room W Seoul- Walker Hill in Seoul, Korea opening 2003; the W Mexico City opening mid-2003 featuring 239 rooms; and the W San Diego in California opening January 2003 with 262 rooms. Westin Hotels & Resorts is expanding rapidly in Asia with the opening of two new hotels in Japan and China within the next four months, along with a new Maylasian property that’s debuting in Kuala Lumpur in December 2002. The Westin Saigon located in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam is also scheduled open by the end of 2003 featuring 479 guestrooms. The 479-room Westin Dhaka in Bangladesh is also slated to open in 2003. Within the United States, Westin is opening a new 750 room hotel in Phoenix and a 404-room airport property in Detroit in November 2002. The Westin New York at Times Square also debuts in November. The Westin Charlotte and the Westin Bellevue, WA will both open in 2003. The brand is also opening its first property in Poland in 2003, the Westin Warsaw. Sheraton Hotels & Resorts is also opening 20 new hotels by the end of 2003 spanning the globe from location like Krabi, Thailand to China to Mexico City to Overland Park, KS. Several new Sheratons are also planned for the Middle East including a couple new hotels in Syria; a new Albanian property; a new location in Beirut, Lebanon; and three new Egyptian hotels. Spain and Portugal are also targeted for expansion with three new hotels planned. In addition, Four Points by Sheraton is opening seven new hotels within the next two years, including two in Sharm El Sheikh and two in South America.