Starwood Hotels & Resorts (the “Trust”) and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (the Corporation) NYSE:HOT said today that the Board of Trustees and the Board of Directors named Arthur Andersen LLP as independent auditors for the companies.

“Based on their long-time relationships and in-depth knowledge of both ITT Corporation and Westin Hotels & Resorts, which now represent approximately 75 percent of the new company, the Boards selected Arthur Andersen LLP as the independent auditor for the newly combined companies,” said Barry S. Sternlicht, chairman and chief executive of the Trust and chairman of the Board of Directors for the Corporation.

Arthur Andersen LLP who has been the independent auditors for ITT Corporation for the past 76 years and for Westin Hotels & Resorts for the past 3 years will serve as the company’s independent auditors for 1998. Arthur Andersen LLP replaces Coopers and Lybrand who had been Starwood’s outside auditors.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. through its ITT Sheraton, Westin and Caesars subsidiaries, is one of the leading hotel and gaming operating companies in the world. Starwood Hotels & Resorts is the largest real estate investment trust in the United States. Shares of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. are paired and trade together with shares of Starwood Hotels & Resorts.

——-