
White Plains, New York – January 10, 2011 –
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT) today announced
Starwood Preferred Guest members can now connect with the company's
customerservice agents using FaceTime, Apple's video calling feature on
iPhone 4, the new iPod touch and Macs.*
To launch a video call, SPG members simply call 1-866-500-0369 from their
iPhone 4, new iPod touch or Mac. A SPG customer service
representative will answer ready to handle any customer service inquiry,
such as making or changing reservations, booking award stays,
checking account balances, or providing more information about Starwood’s
1000 hotels and resorts across the globe.
“Starwood Hotels is proud to offer face-to-face video calling for SPG
members with FaceTime,” said David Godsman, vice president Global Web
Services. "Apple's innovative technology allows us to provide
a meaningful, personalized experience that will resonate with our
most loyal customers.”
“We find customers enjoy seeing the person behind the voice,” said Mike
English, vice president Customer Contact Centers. “FaceTime is a
great way for representatives of our over 1,000 hotels in the Starwood
family to interact with guests in a very personal way.”
* FaceTime works over Wi-Fi on iPhone 4, the new iPod touch and Macs
running Mac OS X
v10.6.4 Snow Leopard or later.
About Starwood Preferred Guest
The SPG program’s breakthrough policy of No Blackout Dates at the world’s most
sought after collection of hotels reinvented the hospitality loyalty program
when it launched in 1999. By creating a program centered on its members,
SPG has developed the most passionate and knowledgeable membership base in the
hotel loyalty space. Through its use of new technologies and innovative
channels such as SPG.com, SPG.com/stayconnected, SPG.com/flights and others,
SPG continues to innovate and lead the industry. By offering No Blackouts on
standard rooms at over 1,000 hotels and resorts in nearly 100 countries, No
Blackouts on hundreds of airlines, and once in a lifetime experiences available
through SPG Moments at spg.com/moments, the program has proven to be a big draw
for the world’s most frequent travelers, and a significant competitive
advantage for Starwood. For more information about Starwood
Preferred Guest please visit SPG.com or call (877) – STARWOOD.
About Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading hotel and
leisure companies in the world with 1025 properties in 100 countries and
territories with 145,000 employees at its owned and managed properties.
Starwood Hotels is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchisor of hotels,
resorts and residences with the following internationally renowned brands: St.
Regis®, The Luxury Collection®, W®, Westin®, Le Méridien®, Sheraton®, Four
Points® by Sheraton, and the recently launched Aloft®, and Element
SM. Starwood Hotels also owns Starwood Vacation Ownership,
Inc., one of the premier developers and operators of high quality vacation
interval ownership resorts. For more information, please visit www.starwoodhotels.com