Starwood To Guarantee Best Rates On Its Branded Websites

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y May 9, 2002 Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:HOT) announced today that the company will rollout a new Best Rate Guarantee on its branded websites beginning on June 1, 2002 (www.starwood.com; www.spg.com; www.sheraton.com; www.whotels.com; www.westin.com; www.stregis.com; www.fourpoints.com; www.luxurycollection.com).
Starwood's Best Rate Guarantee pledges that if travelers find lower published rates for Starwood's hotels in the United States and Canada available through any other online distributor, Starwood will match the lower rate and offer an additional 10 percent off that price.
In the past, Starwood's websites have not always had rates that consumers could trust, said Robert F. Cotter, Starwood's Chief Operating Officer. Travelers could, on occasion, find lower rates available through other channels. Starwood's \'Best Rate Guarantee' will ensure rate integrity on Starwood's branded websites and provide our guests assurances that the rates they find on our websites are the best published rates available anywhere.
With the launch of its Best Rate Guarantee, Starwood guests can have confidence in the prices found through Starwood's website pricing and continue to enjoy the unmatched service available through Starwood's branded websites. In addition, Starwood Preferred Guest members receive a 500-point bonus for booking through the Starwood websites.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with more than 740 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 franchiser 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.