The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C. Scores Number One Rating for Sixth Year in Business Travel News "Top U.S. Hotel Chain Survey"

Market Wire, February, 2005

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C., headquartered in Chevy Chase, Md., has been named number one in the deluxe tier of Business Travel News annual survey of 6,000 corporate travel managers. Scoring an impressive overall score of 8.65, and winning seven of the thirteen criteria, this is the sixth consecutive top rating for the global hotel company with 58 properties in business travel cities including New York, San Francisco, Shanghai, Berlin and Santiago.

Among the top five deluxe tier competitors in the BTN "Top U.S. Hotel Chain Survey," The Ritz-Carlton ranked first in the categories of: arranging group and individual travel, facilities resort and non-resort meetings, helpful and courteous staff, physical appearance of hotels, and quality of in-room amenities.

"This sixth consecutive win validates the commitment of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company to serving the needs of our corporate travelers. We have always promised to be the easiest company to do business with, and these results prove our efforts are recognized as highly successful," said Simon F. Cooper, president and chief operating officer.

Among other recent accolades won by the properties of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company are: Bloomberg TV and Business Asia Magazine's "Best Business Hotels in Asia 2004" for The Portman Ritz-Carlton, Shanghai; The Ritz-Carlton, Kuala Lumpur; The Ritz-Carlton Millennia, Singapore and The Ritz-Carlton, Seoul. Business Travel World in the United Kingdom named The Ritz-Carlton "Best Business Hotel Brand" (fewer than 100 properties) and Forbes.com selected it as "Best Business Hotel Chain for 2004."

Over the next four years The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company has expansion plans which span the globe, in strategic locations for the business traveler. They include Jakarta (2005), Beijing (2006), Guangzhou (2007), Dallas (2007) Hong Kong (2009) and Shanghai. "We will continue to identify those cities where the business executive travels and consider suitable sites for future development," said Cooper.

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C. of Chevy Chase, Md., (USA) currently operates 58 hotels in the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. It is the only service company to have twice earned the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, which recognizes outstanding customer service. For more information, call toll free, 1-800-241-3333, contact a travel professional, or consult the web site at http://www.ritzcarlton.com/.

Contact: Vivian Deuschl Corporate Vice President, Public Relations The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company (703) 941-6225 vivian.deuschl@ritzcarlton.com