Starwood Shakes up the Status Quo Introducing ‘Round-the-Clock’ Check-in for Most Loyal Starwood Preferred Guest Members

With Your24™, a groundbreaking new benefit announced today, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:HOT) will abolish set check-in and checkout times for select Starwood Preferred Guest elite members – and introduce ‘round-the-clock’ check-in at all Starwood hotels and resorts.

While tradition has long held hotel check-in to 3 p.m., Starwood is bucking convention to give its most frequent travelers complete control of their check-in and checkout times. A member who chooses to check in at 10 p.m. won’t have to checkout until 10 p.m. on their day of departure, 24 hours later. Platinum SPG members who spend 75+ eligible nights at Starwood hotels can request Your24 service.

"We’re constantly striving to make travel as personalized as possible for Starwood Preferred Guest Members, and that means fresh thinking around long-standing industry practices,” said Mark Vondrasek, Senior Vice President for Distribution, Loyalty & Partnership Marketing at Starwood. "Your24 reflects very clearly that the preferences of our guests drive how we do business, and that’s another reason why Starwood and SPG have earned such intense loyalty with global travelers.”

Your24 is part of a suite of new elite benefits launching March 1, 2012, that make the award-winning Starwood Preferred Guest the richest elite program in the industry. With the new SPG enhancements, the more you stay, the richer it gets with more points, first of its kind benefits such as confirmable 24-hour check-in, the addition of lifetime status, access to a dedicated Starwood ambassador, confirmable upgrades and free breakfast.

Starwood recently reported that elite membership in Starwood Preferred Guest has doubled over the past five years. What’s more, they are spending 60% more than they did five years ago.

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/stayconnected, SPG.com/flights and others, SPG continues to innovate and lead the industry. By offering No Blackouts on standard rooms at over 1,000 hotels and resorts in nearly 100 countries, No Blackouts on hundreds of airlines, and once in a lifetime experiences available through SPG Moments at spg.com/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.

About Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with 1071 properties in 100 countries and territories with 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 Element SM. The company boasts one of the industry’s leading loyalty programs, Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG), allowing members to earn and redeem points for room stays, room upgrades and flights, with no blackout dates. 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.