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Press Release: Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.
December 4, 2002
WHITE PLAINS, NY -- Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:HOT) announces the opening of the new Sheraton
Overland Park at the Convention Center, in Overland Park, Kansas today.
The $68 million, 412-room hotel is connected to the newly opened 237,000 square foot state-of-the-art Overland
Park Convention Center via an enclosed walkway. The hotel is owned by the Overland Park Development Corporation
and Starwood is operating the hotel under its Sheraton brand.
" We are pleased to become a key component of the thriving city of Overland Park," said Geoff Ballotti,
executive vice president of North American hotel operations for Starwood. "Sheraton's experience of operating
some of the most successful convention hotels in the United States combined with Overland Park's prime central
location, excellent business climate and superb amenities offers the preeminent venue for business travelers and
groups."
Situated in the geographic center of the United States in the city of Overland Park, the Sheraton Overland Park
is located in affluent Johnson County, Kansas, one of the wealthiest counties in the country. The area is famous
for its tree-lined boulevards, elegant fountains and upscale housing developments and is home to the corporate
offices of such companies as Sprint, Yellow Freight, Farmers Insurance Group and Universal Underwriters. Additionally,
the hotel is a twenty-minute drive to Kansas City's world famous Plaza entertainment and shopping district.
The exterior of the 20-story hotel, the tallest building in Overland Park, is ultra sleek and contemporary, seamlessly
blending with the look of the adjacent convention center. The bold and dramatic interior design exudes quality,
elegance and Kansas City tradition, yet is edgy enough to attract the area's hip young, high-tech client base.
The hotel's 13 meeting rooms have more than 28,000 combined square feet of interior and pre-function space. The
10,800-square-foot Cottonwood Ballroom is the largest hotel ballroom in Johnson County. In contrast, the opulent
600-square-foot Redbud boardroom seats a maximum of 30 at a custom-made table equipped for high-speed Internet
access. All meeting rooms are wired with Cat5 Ethernet with a dedicated T-1 line allowing connections up to 50
times faster than dial-up service to the Internet and 10 times faster than an ISDN line. Internal LAN speed which
supports the T1 circuit is 100 Mpbs with 10/100 Mbps hardware.
All 412 oversized guestrooms, including 14 guest suites and 4 hospitality suites, boast Sheraton's Sweet Sleeper(sm)
Bed, featuring a Sealy Posturepedic Plush Top mattress, down pillows, crisp sheets and coverlets in rich colors.
Guest rooms are also outfitted with dual-line phones, large work areas with ergonomically designed chairs, high-speed
Internet access and Sprint InSite. Sprint InSite is a service operated through the guest's television via wireless
keyboard or remote control featuring state of the art functionality delivering a suite of guest room entertainment
applications, including "Starwood Turbo Net" high-speed Internet access, e-mail accessibility, as well
as music, games, local maps and information, digital movies-on-demand with VCR functionality, and digital concierge
services.
Other guest services include a light-filled indoor pool area, a 24-hour fitness facility, business center, room
service and shuttle service to nearby offices. The hotel will also feature the Sheraton brand's new Service Promise,
a service guarantee where guest problems will not only get fixed on the spot when possible, but also offers guests'
compensation. No matter what the problem, guests who are unsatisfied need only tell a hotel associate and they
will automatically receive compensation in the form of instant discounts, points for Starwood Preferred Guest,
the company's award-winning frequency program, or even money back.
OP 1906 Bar & Grille, the hotel's restaurant, is named for the year that the city of Overland Park was founded.
By day, OP 1906 serves a quick and efficient business breakfast and lunch. By night, the restaurant and bar become
an upscale and intimate Italian chop house, specializing in great steaks and pasta.
The hotel was designed by the Overland Park office of DLR Group as well as TVS of Atlanta, Georgia. The hotel was
built by Turner Construction Company. The interior design was by Phoenix based Loewen Gunther Interior Design Group.
Sheraton, Starwood's largest brand, has more than 400 hotels in 67 countries. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide,
Inc., one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with more than 750 properties in more than 80
countries and 110,000 employees at its owned and managed properties. With internationally renowned brands, Starwood
is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchisor of hotels and resorts including: St. Regis, The Luxury Collection,
Sheraton, Westin, Four Points by Sheraton, W brands, as well as Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc., one of the premier
developers and operators of high quality vacation interval ownership resorts. For more information, please visit
www.starwood.com
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Contact:
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.
Media Contact:
Ellen Gallo, 914/640-8167
ellen.gallo@starwoodhotels.com
Source: Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.