Starwood Hotels & Resorts Promotes Matthew Avril to Run Hotel Group in Streamlining...

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

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.--(Business Wire)--
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.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.
Investor Relations:
Jason Koval, 914-640-4429
or
Media:
K.C. Kavanagh, 914-882-8461

Copyright Business Wire 2008