The Westin Desert Willow Villas will include 300 two bedroom lock off villas with luxurious features and amenities. Guests will delight in the separate living and dining rooms, balconies, flat-panel televisions, dvd players, stereos, hi-speed wireless internet, convection ovens, and jet tubs -

Starwood Vacation Ownership (SVO), the fractional and vacation ownership division of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. has launched sales at The Westin Desert Willow Villas, Palm Desert. During construction, sales will take place at a new state of the art sales gallery located adjacent to the resort in Palm Desert.

This will be SVO's second Westin-branded vacation ownership resort in the region with the first being the Westin Mission Hills Resort & Villas located nearby in Rancho Mirage, California. Construction of the new Westin Desert Willow Villas is scheduled to commence later this month with occupancy currently scheduled for late 2009.

"We are excited to extend our presence in southern California with The Westin Desert Willow Villas. Desert Willow is a magnificent community with two of the best public golf courses in the country, providing the perfect backdrop for our second Westin-branded vacation ownership resort in the area.

We had been searching for some time for a site suitable as a sequel to our highly successful resort at Mission Hills. Palm Desert is the ideal location for another resort in the Valley providing our owners and guests an opportunity to vacation in one of the premier destinations in the country," said Dave Broderick, senior vice president, sales and marketing, Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc.

The Westin Desert Willow Villas will include 300 two-bedroom lock-off villas with luxurious features and amenities. Guests will delight in the separate living and dining rooms, balconies, flat-panel televisions, dvd players, stereos, hi-speed wireless internet, convection ovens, and jet tubs.

The resort will also feature a clubhouse and reception building, two lavish swimming pools, a water slide, hot tubs, a kiddie pool, tennis courts, a game room and expansive landscaped grounds, and a WESTINWORKOUT® Fitness Facility. The design of the villas and sales center will complement the existing architecture and style of Desert Willow.

Starwood Vacation Ownership is an award-winning company with more than 25 resorts in some of the most sought after vacation destinations in the world.

The Westin Desert Willow Villas, Palm Desert will be the eleventh Westin Vacation Ownership resort either completed or in development including resorts in Maui, Kauai, California, Arizona, Colorado, Cancun, Los Cabos, St. John, USVI and Aruba. In addition to Westin, SVO is developing vacation ownership resorts under the Sheraton brand and high-end fractional residences under the St. Regis and The Luxury Collection brands.