Aloft Hotels Launches Sweepstakes to Celebrate the Debut of Its New Online Experience

Business Wire, June 08, 2009

Sweepstakes includes chance to win the latest high-tech gadgets and a grand prize of one million Starwood Preferred Guest® Starpoints®

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.® (NYSE:HOT) and its high-tech, style at a steal AloftSM Hotels brand, announce the launch of the “Aloft Explore, Amuse Win” sweepstakes. To celebrate its newly expanded Web site, visitors can enter the sweepstakes for the chance to win a grand prize of one million Starwood Preferred Guest® Starpoints®, enough for over 25 roundtrip airline tickets, more than 140 free nights at Aloft Hotels, or adventures and getaways at participating Starwood properties around the world. Playing “Click-to-Win” offers a chance at winning cool daily prizes, including the very latest tech and travel gadgets such as laptops, digital cameras, GPS systems, MP3 players, Aloft hotel getaways and more.

The new microsite, www.alofthotels.com/explore, showcases a range of interactive features, including a guided insider’s tour of the hotel, maps and city guides for each location which engage visitors through a series of original, branded games that bring the Aloft Hotels experience to life.

“Created to inject style and energy into the staid, traditional select service segment of the hotel industry, Aloft delivers urban-influenced, open and vibrant design, and a buzzing social atmosphere at an affordable price point,” said Brian McGuinness, Senior Vice President of Specialty Select brands, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. “In the same way that W Hotels broke through the clutter of conformity in the upscale hotel arena a decade ago, Aloft is shaking up the industry for the next generation of traveler.”

Starwood recognized opportunity in the select serve market for reinvention and innovation and selected world renowned design and architecture firm Rockwell Group to collaborate on the new hotel concept. Aloft Hotels are geared toward savvy, design-conscious consumers who grew up with the democratization of design. With 25 hotels now open, and more than 40 open by the end of the year, travelers can experience Aloft from Baltimore and Beijing to Montreal and Minneapolis and everywhere in between.

About Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.

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®, The Luxury Collection®, W®, Westin®, Le Méridien®, Sheraton®, Four Points® by Sheraton, and the recently launched Aloft®, 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 www.starwoodhotels.com.