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 September 25, 2005 Following Hurricane Rita, the Starwood Hotels in Houston -- The Westin Oaks and Galleria and St. Regis -- are accepting near-term reservations again for later this week. The more than two million Houston residents who evacuated the city will be returning during the next few days as gasoline and services are available again. As much of the city shuttered, the three hotels safely housed more than 1,500 guests and associates and their families. And, three restaurants in the hotels – Zuchinni’s and the Daily Grill in the Westins and Remington’s in the St. Regis -- were among the only ones in the core city which had continuous operations throughout the week and weekend In New Orleans, operations at the Sheraton New Orleans, W New Orleans and W French Quarter were unaffected by Hurricane Rita. September 24, 2005 Although Hurricane Rita is still a severe storm damaging some areas of East Texas and West Louisiana, both Houston and New Orleans were largely spared of significant damage. The Starwood Hotels in both cities made extensive preparations for the storm and safely housed nearly 2,000 guests and associates in our New Orleans hotels and more than 1,500 guests and associates and their families in Houston The City of Houston is encouraging the more than two million residents who evacuated not to return immediately because of shortages of gasoline and services. The City of New Orleans continues to limit any access to the city and maintains a night time curfew. In Houston, as the City returns to normal operations this week, the Westin Oaks and Galleria Hotels and the St. Regis Houston will resume taking near-term reservations. Operations in New Orleans are outlined below and unchanged. September 23, 2005 As our hotels in New Orleans continue to get back online in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, our hotels in Houston, as well as those in New Orleans, have completed preparations for Hurricane Rita. With Rita’s landfall still uncertain, the Westin Oaks and Galleria Hotels and the St. Regis Houston put their emergency preparedness plans in place earlier this week. The three hotels are accommodating several thousand guests and Starwood associates and family members and are ready to sustain safe operations throughout the storm’s impact. Emergency supplies and equipment are secured and preparations have been completed for the comfort and safety of our guests. In New Orleans, the Sheraton New Orleans, the W New Orleans and the W French Quarter are also fully prepared to deal with any possible impact from Rita. The hotels have kept on hand the emergency generators, water tanks and other significant equipment which aided in the recovery from Katrina so even if Hurricane Rita were to bring significant adverse conditions to the Crescent City, our hotels are fully prepared for the continued safe operation for our guests. The Sheraton New Orleans has filled virtually all of its 1,110 rooms as emergency services personnel (police, fire and medical personnel) were temporarily relocated there from the cruise ships, where they had been housed the past several weeks, because the cruise ships had to leave the area ahead of Rita. The cruise ships are expected to return to New Orleans within a few days of the passing of Rita and the emergency personnel will return to those accommodations. The Sheraton has a contract with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for the majority of its rooms to accommodate contractors who will be focused on rebuilding the infrastructure of New Orleans, so the hotel is not accepting reservations at this time. The Sheraton has made tremendous progress in a return to full operations since Katrina. The Starbucks in the lobby opened this week, the first in New Orleans! The Sheraton’s Roux Bistro restaurant opened to the public last week, offering three full buffet meals each day. The Roux Bistro will return to menu service as supply lines improve and more associates are able to return to work. The W New Orleans and W French Quarter also continue to increase services for guests accommodated there. All available rooms at both W Hotels are filled and they are not accepting reservations, either. September 14, 2005 The Starwood hotels in New Orleans have made great and rapid progress. In fact, the Sheraton New Orleans opened on Tuesday, September 13th with a limited number of rooms and was sold out. The W New Orleans and W French Quarter are due to open Friday, September 16th and all available inventoryis already committed. We feel that we are ahead of schedule due to the instant response and planning of our executive and crisis teams. Additionally, as recovery crews have completed damage assessments, it is apparent that we were very fortunate in the actual damage our hotels sustained and necessary repairs are ongoing and manageable. The detailing and sanitizing of the hotel guest rooms and public areas includes cleaning of the air returns, wall surfaces, floors, carpets - everything from top-to-bottom. This is a very lengthy process and will insure a safe and comfortable environment for our guests when they stay with us once again. Starwood associates continue to flow back to work at our hotels, bringing return to normalcy for our hotels even closer! September 8, 2005 Overall, Starwood’s three properties in New Orleans – the Sheraton New Orleans, W New Orleans and W French Quarter - are in good shape and poised to be up and running at full speed in the very near future. All three hotels are air conditioned and have Starwood associates working with contract recovery workers on ongoing repairs and operations. The W French Quarter has been detailed inside and out and looks great. Detailing of the guest rooms in the Sheraton New Orleans is also underway. Windows that were damaged at the W New Orleans are being replaced. Approximately 75 Starwood associates have returned to work in the New Orleans hotels while others have found temporary employment outside of the New Orleans market at Starwood hotels in cities such as Birmingham, Dallas and Atlanta. September 7, 2005 The recovery process for our hotels continues to move forward at a good pace. The Sheraton New Orleans is no longer being powered by generators and is on the city's grid. The W New Orleans and W French Quarter continue to operate with generators and will soon be on-line with electrical power provided by the city. We are removing glass from damaged areas. Trucks arrived today from Baton Rouge to pick up laundry from the hotels and will be delivering clean linens. To meet the needs of emergency workers, the first floor gift shop of the Sheraton New Orleans has been turned in to an infirmary and is staffed by doctors and nurses to administer inoculations and health services. Additionally, all hotel associates and recovery staff were given the opportunity to receive Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B and Tetanus shots. We believe we our hotels will be fully functional before all others. There is a tremendous need to provide safe, secure and quality housing for those involved in the city's recovery efforts and we are working to meet that mounting demand. While other hotels in New Orleans were still evacuating or were abandoned during the first week of the flooding, Starwood's on-site team managed to safely evacuate guests and non-essential associates, arranged for generators to power the three hotels, brought in water and brought back more than 70 associates to assist with recovery efforts. With multiple 20,000 gallon trucks of water on site at the Sheraton our associates reached a milestone when they were able to take brief showers and flush toilets! In addition, Robear Hamada, Food & Beverage Director who returned to the Sheraton New Orleans earlier this week, has proven to be very resourceful and creative in providing hot meals to the hotel staff and contractors to keep their energy levels at a maximum. September 5, 2005 Starwood’s downtown and French Quarter hotels enjoyed a small victory Sunday night as the marquee logo signs were all lighted on the Sheraton New Orleans, W New Orleans and W French Quarter, the first beacons shining anywhere in the skyline of that city. All three hotels had generator power and are expecting emergency water services through water tank trucks to operate the sprinkler and sanitary systems. Federal agents are housed in the hotels, but no outside guests are being taken. With the areas surrounding the hotels secure, Starwood is today beginning to bring in limited number of associates who had been evacuated to assist in the recovery efforts working with the professional catastrophe recovery contractors. This weekend, Starwood announced it had expanded the programs to encourage donations for the region. Members of the Starwood Preferred Guest program will receive 500 points if they donate $50 or more in cash to either the Red Cross or the Starwood Relief Fund. The Relief Fund will benefit directly the hundreds of valued associates from the Sheraton New Orleans, W New Orleans and W French Quarter, who were evacuated along with their families, as well as other relief agencies. Details are available at www.spg.com. September 4, 2005 With the arrival of National Guard and active duty troops, the areas surrounding the Sheraton New Orleans, W New Orleans and W French Quarter, are safe and the hotels are completely secure The hotels have limited services with generators online and are housing federal agents and catastrophe recovery personnel. The Starwood emergency management team onsite is working with authorities and beginning the recovery process. Starwood hotels throughout Texas and other areas continue providing special support and services for evacuees, from providing housing and meals for displaced associates to accepting clothing and other donations, to hosting special family events. For example, at the Sheraton Park Central in Dallas, where hundreds of Starwood associates and family members are living, managers have arranged for on-site visits by medical personnel, representatives of the Red Cross, local school district and state social security services. Starwood also announced that its valued associates from the Sheraton New Orleans, W New Orleans and W French Quarter will receive pay and benefits through the end of September. Hourly associates involved in recovery efforts in New Orleans in coming weeks or working temporarily at other hotels will be paid in addition to the pay guarantee. Details are being provided through Starwood’s HR department. September 3, 2005 Our management team in New Orleans reports that the Sheraton New Orleans, W New Orleans and W French Quarter are secure. We have returned power to the W French Quarter with generators and are expecting additional generators today for the Sheraton. Water remains off in the city, thus conditions continue to be difficult. Our team there has been doing an extraordinary job and are quite resourceful in providing for the small management group overseeing the hotels and working with local authorities. While there are media reports that some hotels still have guests stranded and unlikely to be evacuated for days to come, we are proud of our team’s work to have gotten all guests and non-essential employees safely evacuated from New Orleans on Wednesday and Thursday. For non-associates, Starwood is providing special discount evacuee rates at properties in the surrounding states. For our valued associates and their families evacuated from the Sheraton New Orleans, W New Orleans and W French Quarter, Starwood is providing housing and food at no cost in our hotels in Texas and other areas where residents have fled. Local Starwood managements have taken great steps to extend relief to the many thousands who had to evacuate the Gulf Coast. In Texas, for example, Starwood has thousands of evacuees at hotels primarily in Houston, Dallas and San Antonio. Hotel managers have organized a number of services to meet the needs of associates and non-associates alike, including:
As guests worldwide have asked to help in some way, Starwood is encouraging donations to the Red Cross by giving members of the Starwood Preferred Guest program 500 points for each cash donation of USD$50 or more. Details are available on the Starwood Preferred Guest website, spg.com. Additionally, Starwood has established the Starwood Relief Fund for associates to donate to help those in need. Guests and associates should see below for phone numbers and relevant Internet links for more details on services available. September 1, 2005 First and foremost, our thoughts and prayers are with the victims of this destructive hurricane. Starwood and its associates stand with all New Orleans residents committed to recover, rebuild and restore this beautiful city! We applaud the spirit and the energy of our employees and the incredible fortitude they have shown during this disaster. We are very proud of our associates and we look forward to the day when we are all back together providing comfort and services to our loyal guests at the Sheraton New Orleans, the W New Orleans, the W New Orleans- French Quarter and the Four Points by Sheraton New Orleans Airport. Through the first few days after the hurricane struck, our hotels hosted approximately 1,500 evacuees. Our associates extended every guest all of the comforts that were available to them including meals, telephone lines to phone family members and finally, transportation to evacuate. All hotels safely evacuated all guests and non-essential associates by September 1. We have made arrangements to provide free housing and meals for all displaced associates and their families at the Sheraton Park Central in Dallas. Starwood will also provide a transition team that will assist employees with their longer-term needs. We anticipate being able to utilize many associates in the recovery process at our hotels in New Orleans. Additionally Starwood hotels in the region are providing special guest rates for non-associate evacuees. Key staff members will remain at the New Orleans properties to prepare to provide housing for federal and state relief and recovery workers. Understandably, our hotels have sustained damage, but are still sound. Assessments are currently taking place to get the full scope of needed repairs. In order to assist with those in need, a Starwood Relief Fund has been set up to help those impacted by this tragedy. Corporately, Starwood has donated a substantial amount to help with these efforts. Starwood associates have also been encouraged to donate to this fund. Our Associates We are working with our associates during this difficult time to ensure that they have access to the resources they need to help in the rebuilding process. If you are an associate of one of the New Orleans Starwood properties, we want to know that you are safe and secure. Please contact us at 800-409-9902. If you have specific questions regarding benefits and employment and available resources, please click on these links. Our Guests Guests who had individual travel plans to the affected regions can call our reservations center Sheraton 800-325–3535, Four Points by Sheraton 800-368-7764, and W Hotels 877-WHOTELS for cancellations and rebookings. For group bookings, please contact your nearest Starwood Global Sales Office. For families of guests and associates trying to find associates and guests, please send an e-mail to hurricaneinfo@starwoodhotels.com. The results of Hurricane Katrina have been devastating. Countless people have been impacted by this unimaginable natural disaster. Our thoughts are with the people affected by this tragedy during this difficult time. Starwood is working with the communities in which we operate in affected areas to support the recovery process.  Hurricane Wilma Affected Hotels
Hurricane Katrina Affected Hotels
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