WorldRes.com and Sunstone Hotels Partner to Increase Hotel E-commerce
WorldRes.com Offers Web Distribution and Real-Time Booking for Sunstone's Entire Hotel Inventory
Press Release
September 23, 1999
SAN MATEO, CA -- WorldRes.com, Inc.(TM) and Sunstone Hotel Properties, Inc. have joined forces to enhance search
and booking options for Sunstone's guests, while increasing Web distribution and potential e-commerce revenues
at all of Sunstone's 59 hotel properties.
WorldRes.com, the online hotel distribution network for leisure travel, connects lodging properties of all types
to consumers through its proprietary network of web-based distribution partners.
In addition to becoming part of the WorldRes.com proprietary network of Web distribution partners, Sunstone will
implement a private label version of WorldRes.com's booking engine, enabling travelers to make real-time, confirmed
reservations directly from the Sunstone site (www.sunstonehotels.com). Sunstone Hotel Properties are located from
Minnesota to California, and include brands such as Holiday Inn, Hampton Inn, Marriott, Hilton and Sheraton.
Through WorldRes.com, Sunstone's hotels will be able to display and alter, in real-time, detailed property information
including room rates, availability, special offers and room photographs. Through this partnership, Sunstone hotels
will receive the benefits of increased Web marketing and distribution plus any incremental revenue from Web bookings.
``Sunstone is dedicated to providing to our guests the best available solutions for researching and booking hotel
room nights, while maximizing revenue at our properties,'' said Scott Hermes, CMP, Sunstone's vice president of
sales. ``WorldRes.com has built an impressive network of Web distribution partners, and a state-of-the-art booking
engine for Web reservations, giving our hotels an effective, efficient way to increase visibility across the Web
while expanding the information and booking options available to our customers.''
``We are delighted to add Sunstone's properties to our network,'' commented WorldRes.com CEO Greg Jones. ``Their
collection of hotels encompasses well known brands in popular locations.''
Sunstone's hotels join the more than 9,000 properties already enjoying the benefits of the WorldRes.com network,
which offers accommodations to travelers through a range of front-end partners. Currently the WorldRes.com distribution
network encompasses more than 900 web sites and call centers, including Web portals and travel sites like AOL,
Lycos, Yahoo! and Travelocity, activity-based partners such as SkiNet and Global Golf Guide, and destination marketing
organizations such as the British Tourist Authority, and property web sites. Distribution partners get access to
a unique set of properties, many of which are bookable only through WorldRes.com, and receive a share of the transaction
fees paid by the property.
About Sunstone
At all of its properties, Sunstone Hotel Properties, Inc. is the lessee of Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc., a leading
self-administered equity real estate investment trust that owns and invests in luxury, upscale and mid-price hotels
located in the western United States. The Company's growth strategy is to maximize shareholder value by (i) acquiring
underperforming hotels within the western United States that are in attractive locations with significant barriers
to entry and (ii) improving such hotels' financial performance by renovating, redeveloping, rebranding and repositioning
the hotels together with the implementation of focused sales and marketing programs. Sunstone Hotel Investors,
Inc. is the only hotel REIT that currently focuses its acquisition strategy in the western United States. Through
Sunstone Hotel Investors, L.P., the company owns or has invested in 59 hotels. Sunstone's business strategy is
to own luxury, upscale and mid-price hotels with revenue growth opportunities in strong western U.S. markets.
About WorldRes.com, Inc.
WorldRes.com, Inc. (http://www.worldres.com) operates the online distribution network that connects hotels to leisure travelers
through a broad range of Web-based partners, including portals, travel and destination Web sites, convention and
visitor bureaus, tourism authorities, online city guides, call centers and travel agents. For hotels, WorldRes.com
offers an efficient, low-cost means for marketing and selling accommodations online. For distribution partners,
WorldRes.com provides detailed information, booking capability and transaction revenue for a wide range of properties,
from bed and breakfasts and independent hotels to resorts and hotel chains.
WorldRes.com was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in San Mateo, California. WorldRes.com also has offices in
London and Duesseldorf, Germany. WorldRes.com's more than 80 employees possess an extensive knowledge of hotel
marketing, systems and operations as well as Internet-based transaction technology.
Hotels interested in joining the WorldRes.com system can enroll online or contact WorldRes.com Sales either by
phone at (650) 372-1700, or by e-mail to sales@worldres.com. Potential distribution partners interested in joining the WorldRes.com network
can contact Scott Potter at (650) 372-1714 or through e-mail to partners@worldres.com.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact:
WorldRes
Elizabeth Ripley, 650/372-1700
eripley@worldres.com
or
The Horn Group
Ben Farrell, 415/905-4048
bfarrell@horngroup.com
or
Brice & Associates (for Sunstone)
John Brice, 619/456-3855
jbrice@briceandassociates.com