WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Dec. 23, 2002—Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:HOT) announces the official reflagging of the Doubletree Hotel in Pasadena to The Westin Pasadena.

MaguirePartners, one of the nation`s premier developers of commercial real estate developed the property in 1989 and was formerly managed under the Hilton/Doubletree flag. Starwood, parent company of the Westin brand, assumed management of the hotel on Friday, December 20th.

“We are thrilled to bring the Westin brand to Pasadena, a world-class urban city and host to the celebrated Tournament of Roses Parade and the Rose Bowl Game,” said John Fuller, general manager of the hotel. “We look forward to offering guests of The Westin Pasadena the luxurious and upscale comforts associated with the Westin brand.”

Ideally located in the heart of Pasadena`s historic district, the hotel is featured in Plaza Las Fuentes, a mixed-use commercial office development surrounded by two free-standing restaurants, lush landscaping and sculptures, fountains and public art. Within blocks from Old Pasadena, the hotel is easily accessible to the area`s top cultural and retail attractions, Burbank`s growing regional airport and numerous corporate and regional headquarters.

The hotel`s transformation to the Westin brand begins with the installation of the highly acclaimed Heavenly Bed(R) and Heavenly Bath(R) in all of its 350 guest rooms and suites. Providing an oasis for weary travelers, Westin`s Heavenly Bed consists of a custom designed, pillow-top mattress set; cozy down blanket; high quality, high thread count linens; crisp white duvet coverlet and five queen-size and king-size pillows. All guest rooms will also highlight Westin`s latest guest room innovation, the Heavenly Bath, a custom-designed shower with a dual showerhead to provide more power and wider water coverage and a specially-designed curved shower rod allowing eight more inches of elbowroom.

The immediate upgrades to the hotel will feature the conversion to the Heavenly Bed and Heavenly Bath and will be a part of a $9 million hotel wide refurbishment that will reflect Westin brand standards in the lobby, guestrooms and public areas. Westin delivers unmatched comfort and outstanding service to affluent, professional business and leisure travelers, in an environment characterized by an elegant, calming and subdued sense of style. Westin guest room components include a large work area with a two-line speakerphone with data port for high speed internet access, cordless bedside telephone, voice messaging, fully-stocked refreshment center, cable television, in-room movies, laptop-sized safe and more.

Other services at the hotel include The Oaks restaurant, a fine dining choice featuring an outdoor dining patio and cuisine with an accent from the Tuscan region of Italy. The 191 North Bar and Grill is an intimate lounge and grill ideal for lunch, dinner and cocktails and snacks. An outdoor, heated swimming pool and spa is situated on a sundeck atop the fourth floor. A state-of- the- art health club is located adjacent to the pool deck and includes a variety of cardio and weight training equipment. Lush courtyard gardens, sculptured fountains and dramatic architectural facades provide a perfect setting to entertain corporate and social special events. The hotel features 19 meeting rooms totaling 24,000 square feet of meeting and banquet space.

Guests who stay at The Westin Pasadena will be able to earn their way toward free travel through Starwood Preferred Guest(R), consistently rated the best hotel frequency program in the world. With more than 700 participating hotels and resorts around the world, the program is the industry`s most global and offers a structure focused on simplicity, flexibility in redemption options and inclusion of all Starwood`s brands.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with more than 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.

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