WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. - July 20, 2005 -- Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:HOT) announced today that it has completed the sale of Chicago's landmark Raphael Hotel to Miami-based developer Crescent Heights. The 172-room Raphael Hotel, one of Starwood's non-branded assets, was sold for more than $21 million. In addition, Starwood also announced the sale of the Sheraton Chapel Hill Hotel for more than $6 million to the Soleil Group, a Cary, North Carolina-based developer that manages hotels and upscale mixed-use projects. The 168-room hotel is just minutes from the University of North Carolina and will remain in Sheraton's portfolio as a franchise property managed

Raphael Hotel 201 E Delaware Place Chicago, Illinois

Since 2003, Starwood has sold more than $1.5 billion worth of assets. The more than $27 million from the sale of these two hotels combined with other asset sales since 2004 totals more than $425 million, part of an additional $500 million the Company intends to sell by the end of 2005. The Company expects to use proceeds for share repurchase and for general corporate purposes.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with approximately 750 properties in more than 80 countries and 120,000 employees at its owned and managed properties. With internationally renowned brands, Starwood® corporation is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchisor of hotels and resorts including: St. Regis®, The Luxury Collection®, Sheraton®, Westin®, Four Points® by Sheraton, and W®, Hotels and Resorts as well as Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc., one of the premier developers and operators of high quality vacation interval ownership resorts. 

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.
Christine Sarubbe, 914-640-8408
[email protected]