Starwood's Turnberry Golf Resort to Re-Open as Part of Luxury Collection

WHITE PLAINS, NY--Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT) today announces that the historic Turnberry golf resort (top right photo) will re-open as part of the renowned Luxury Collection brand at The Open Championship 2009 following a US$65 million renovation by owner Leisurecorp, a division of Dubai World company Nakheel.

Following the $65 million refurbishment, which has focused on the iconic resort’s public spaces and 40 of its 211 luxuriously appointed guest rooms, Turnberry will proudly host the word’s oldest golf championship, on its renowned Ailsa golf course from July 16 – 19, 2009.

Redesigned by acclaimed interior design firm Fox Linton Associates, Turnberry offers guests world class cuisine, a variety of outdoor activities in addition to golf, and an award winning spa experience.

Ideally located on Scotland’s picturesque Ayrshire coast, Turnberry, a Luxury Collection Resort, is the newest addition to The Luxury Collection, a glittering ensemble of the world’s finest hotels and resorts including, The Grande Bretagne, (bottom left photo) Athens, Greece; Hotel Marqués de Riscal, Elciego, Spain; Mystique, Santorni, Greece; Hotel Danieli, Venice, Italy; The U.S. Grant, San Diego and The Joule, Dallas.

This year’s Open Championship will host the world’s leading golfers who will compete on Turnberry’s Ailsa Course, widely viewed as one of the best links courses in the world.

The historic golf resort has previously played host to the world’s oldest major golf championship in 1977, 1986 and 1994. Turnberry, a Luxury Collection Resort, boasts two 18-hole Championship courses including the Ailsa Course and the Kintyre Course. In addition, the resort has a 9-hole Arran Course and renowned Colin Montgomerie Links Golf Academy.

Contact:

Hwee-Peng Yeo
Director, Corporate Communications
Starwood Asia Pacific Hotels & Resorts Ltd
9 Temasek Boulevard, Suntec City Tower 2
#24-02, Singapore 038989

Tel : +65 6335 4837; Cell : +65 9768 6087; +65 9248 0424
Fax : +65 6335 4820
http://www.starwoodhotels.com/; http://www.starwoodpressclub.com/

Starwood Suit Alleges Hilton Stole Over 100,000 Trade Secret Files on New Brand

WHITE PLAINS, NY—Starwood and Hilton, two of the world’s largest hotel chains, are at each other’s throats in a multi-million-dollar corporate espionage lawsuit filed in Federal Court here.

(Hilton's Beverly Hills, CA headquarters building, top right photo)

The suit alleges former Starwood executives Ross Klein and Amar Lalvani stole more than 100,000 electronic and hard-copy files related to the emerging lifestyle hotel market, before and after they were hired away by Hilton in 2008.

The suit alleges the stolen files focused on Starwood’s W hotel brand.

Hilton, acquired by New York City-based Blackstone Group in 2008, is rushing to come out with its new lifestyle brand called Denizen.

The Beverly Hills, CA-based chain plans to showcase Denizen in several major cities, including Beverly Hills and Abu Dhabi.
The suit aims to stop the debut of this brand.

Denizen is expected to compete with independent hotels and boutique properties, including Starwood’s W line, Morgans Hotel Group Co. and Thompson Hotels.

The suit also will be asking for punitive and compensatory damages totaling “in the millions,” according to industry sources in a position to know.



The suit is expected to take at least a year to settle, according to persons familiar with similar court actions.

Hilton spokesman Michael Buckley called the suit “frivolous and without merit.” He says Hilton will vigorously defend itself against the allegations.

Starwood’s lead lawyer Kenneth Siegel charges Hilton’s alleged theft amounted to a “wholesale looting of proprietary Starwood information.”

He calls the action “a blatant case of theft of trade secrets.”

Siegel says the stolen files included “a step-by-step playbook for creating a lifestyle luxury hotel brand.”
But the most damaging aspect of the alleged theft was that the files “enabled Hilton to launch a new brand in only nine months instead of the usual three to five years,” Siegel charges.

Klein was the former president of Starwood Luxury Brands Group. Lalvani was senior vice president of that unit. At Hilton, Klein is head of luxury and lifestyle brands; Lalvani, is head of development for the same division.

Besides the W brand, Starwood operates the Sheraton and St. Regis hotel chains.