Starwood Hotels & Resorts Expands into China's Hunan Province with Signing of Sheraton Changsha Hotel

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. and Hunan Yunda Real Estate Development Co. Ltd. have announced an agreement for Starwood to manage the 327-room Sheraton Changsha Hotel in China. This newly built hotel is scheduled to open in July, 2007.

The Sheraton Changsha Hotel is located in Changsha's central business district and is part of a mixed-use complex that houses the hotel in one tower and condominiums in the next, plus retail space. The hotel will feature four dining outlets, sports and recreational facilities, a health club and spa, and an indoor swimming pool. In addition, the hotel offers more than 19,900 square feet of meeting and function space for medium to large-sized groups.

"We are firm believers in the importance of China in the world travel market for decades to come. In addition to our new Sheraton Changsha Hotel project, we have 27 hotels currently open or under construction in China under our St. Regis, Westin, Sheraton, W and Four Points by Sheraton brands," said Miguel Ko, President, Asia-Pacific, Starwood Hotels & Resorts. "Starwood is well-positioned with deluxe properties in major and secondary cities in China that cater to the growing number of international and domestic travelers traveling on business and leisure."

Changsha, a city in southern China and the capital of Hunan province, is a busy port on the Xiang River, and also the industrial, transportation and cultural center of what is becoming China's most important grain producing region. Changsha is associated with, and has many monuments to, the early career of Mao Zedong, founder of the People's Republic of China, who was born in Hunan province. The city is also famous for its scenic parkland including Mt. Hengshan and Zhangjiajie National Park, known as China's Yellowstone Park. As the city with the highest disposable per capita income in Hunan, Changsha's gross domestic product is expected to grow at an annual rate of 12% over the next three to four years. Changsha is also ranked among the top 20 most attractive foreign investment regions in China.

Since last year, Starwood has expanded its portfolio in China significantly with the opening of Sheraton hotels in Sanya on Hainan Island, Dongguan in Guangdong province and Jiuzhaigou in Sichuan province in 2003. In the past six months, the company also signed agreements to manage new hotels in Shenzhen, Ningbo, Xiamen, Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai.