Starwood Hotels & Resorts Offers Free Weekends

Travelers Are Rewarded with One Free Weekend Night for Every Two Hotel Stays

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., April 17 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT) is encouraging and rewarding travel with the launch of its richest promotion yet -- SPG Free Weekends.

(Photo: http://www.xprn.com/sa/2009/04/16/200904162331.jpg )

With this unprecedented offer, both existing and new members of the Starwood Preferred Guest(R) program (SPG) who stay two times at any of Starwood's hotels between May 1 and July 31, 2009 can earn one free weekend night (Friday, Saturday or Sunday). There are no limits to the number of free weekend nights that can be earned, and earned nights can be combined to make a longer weekend stay. The nights are redeemable without blackout dates through the end of September.

The SPG Free Weekends promotion allows loyal guests, as well as those who are new to Starwood, to earn and redeem reward nights at any combination of more than 875 hotels around the world within the company's portfolio of nine distinctive and compelling brands -- including Westin, Sheraton, Aloft, St. Regis and more.

"SPG Free Weekends marks the return of the most popular promotion in Starwood's history, but this time around we have ratcheted up the rewards and made it even richer and more accessible for our guests," said Mark Vondrasek, SVP, Distribution, Loyalty & Partnerships for Starwood. "With today's challenges, it is even more important that we reward consumers around the world with an easy, hassle-free opportunity to get away for much needed rest and relaxation. It's like our own 'travel stimulus' program."

Current SPG members, in addition to travelers who have not yet joined the award winning program, can learn more information about the promotion today at http://spg.com/freeweekends . Registration begins April 17.

About Starwood Preferred Guest

The SPG program's breakthrough policy of No Blackout Dates at the world's most sought after collection of hotels, reinvented the hospitality loyalty program when it launched in 1999. By creating a program centered on its members, SPG has developed the most passionate and knowledgeable membership base in the hotel loyalty space. Through its use of new technologies and innovative channels such as SPG.com, SPG.com/flights, thelobby.com, SPG Check-In, and others, SPG continues to innovate and lead the industry. By offering No Blackouts on standard rooms at 890 properties, No Blackouts on hundreds of airlines, and once in a lifetime experiences available through SPG Moments, the program has proven to be a big draw for the world's most frequent travelers, and a significant competitive advantage for Starwood. For more information about Starwood Preferred Guest please visit SPG.com or call (877) - STARWOOD.

About Starwood Hotels & Resorts

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with 960 properties in 97 countries and 145,000 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 AloftSM, and ElementSM. 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 http://www.starwoodhotels.com .

Related stocks: NYSE:HOT