Starwood Hotels & Resorts Named Energy Star 2002 Partner of the Year by The EPA; Starwood Earns Award for Energy Efficiency on 10th Anniversary of ENERGY STAR

Business Wire, March 21, 2002

Business Editors

WHITE PLAINS, NY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 21, 2002

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:HOT) has been named as an ENERGY STAR(R) Partner of the Year by The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its outstanding commitment to pollution prevention through continuous improvement of energy performance throughout its organization.

Starwood will be recognized at a special 10th Anniversary awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. on March 26, 2002.

Starwood, an ENERGY STAR partner since last year, was honored for its leadership in incorporating strategic energy management into its business plan, thereby protecting the environment and strengthening its bottom line. This award is a direct result of an aggressive internal campaign designed to foster energy conservation while reducing overall energy consumption at Starwood hotels and resorts across North America.

These efforts included Starwood's "Save Watts for Wheels" contest, where energy environmental committees were created throughout the company's North American properties in an effort to help reduce energy costs. The Sheraton Colonial Hotel & Golf Club in Wakefield, Massachusetts won the company-wide contest for its innovative and creative approach to helping conserve energy, and as a result one lucky associate drove away in a brand new Porsche Boxster. Starwood also introduced a green room program, which encourages guests to make environmentally friendly service choices during their stay including conserving water by not having their sheets and towels laundered, and saving electricity.

In addition, as part of Starwood's Six Sigma initiative which was launched last year, the hotel giant is currently carefully re-examining all of its management processes including energy conservation and hotel operations practices and their affect on the environment.

"Starwood is pleased to partner with ENERGY STAR on this important effort," said Glenn Tuckman, senior vice president, North American hotel operations for Starwood. "As an ENERGY STAR partner, we now operate more efficiently and cost-effectively and have been able carry these savings directly to our bottom line. We are also proud of the positive effects these efforts have on the environment."

ENERGY STAR now works with more than 7,000 partners to improve the energy efficiency of products, homes, buildings and businesses. For more information about ENERGY STAR, visit www.energystar.gov or call toll-free 1-888-STAR-YES (1-888-782-7937).

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:HOT) is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with 750 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. For more information, please visit www.starwood.com.

Please contact Starwood's new, toll-free media hotline at:

866-4-STAR-PR (866-478-2777) for photography or additional

information.