StarWood Donates $50,000.00 To Bette Midler’s NYRP

Starwood Gives Back with New Meetings Program
New meetings initiative offers planners major savings and incentives including a chance to win one of four $50,000 grants for charity, complimentary meeting breaks by PepsiCo and more

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., May 27, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — –Starwood kicks-off “Get More for your Meeting, Give More to your Community” promotion by donating $50,000 grant to Bette Midler‘s New York Restoration Project

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (HOT 46.66, +2.33, +5.26%) and PepsiCo., Inc. (PEP 62.45, +1.22, +1.99%) have joined forces once again to launch a major initiative for meeting planners. Starwood announced today the launch of its “Get More for your Meeting, Give More to your Community” promotion that offers companies exclusive savings and a chance to win one of four $50,000 charity grants. In the true spirit of giving back, today the company will kick-off the new promotion with a $50,000 contribution to Bette Midler’s non-profit New York Restoration Project and an employee volunteer event to restore three of NYRP‘s community gardens in East Harlem led by Starwood CEO Frits van Paasschen.

Starwood CEO Kicks Off New Promotion with Employee Volunteer Day and $50,000 Contribution

In celebration of the new meetings offering Frits van Paasschen and more than 100 Starwood associates and PepsiCo employees will devote their day to beautifying the community gardens in East Harlem. Saved from demolition by the New York Restoration Project, the three gardens were rebuilt to provide members of the community with a beautiful green space for gardening, environmental education and to gather and use for community events.

“Starwood is committed to positively effecting environmental change and improving the communities where we work and live — and I can’t think of a better way to spend the day then beautifying three of New York’s urban gardens just in time for the local residents to enjoy over the long Memorial Day holiday,” said van Paasschen. “Starwood is one of the largest hotel operators in New York City with six more hotels debuting this year, including one right here in Harlem. We are proud to bring the spirit of our new meetings offering to life today by taking time to give back to the community in a meaningful way and hopefully, we’ll encourage others to do the same.”

“I am thrilled to welcome Starwood to the NYRP family,” said Bette Midler, Founder. “They share our mission to clean and green New York City one block at a time, and it’s especially gratifying that they are encouraging their employees to volunteer their time and energy in this effort. If we all do something — as much as we can — we will improve communities and help make our town the best place to live.”

Get More for Your Meeting, Give More to Your Community

Through Starwood’s “Get More for your Meeting, Give More to your Community” promotion, meeting planners who book a meeting by July 31, 2010 and hold their meeting by December 31, 2010 will receive four percent (4%) off their master account, a complimentary PepsiCo food and beverage break and up to 100k Starpoints signing bonus.

Additionally, companies will have a chance to win a $50,000 charitable grant to be awarded to their charity of choice. The promotion is bookable at more than 350 North America hotels across eight of Starwood’s brands including Westin, Sheraton, Le Meridien, W, Luxury Collection, Four Points by Sheraton, Element and Aloft.

“Starwood is excited by the recent signs of the return of meetings and we want to do our part to contribute to this exciting momentum while helping companies give back to their communities,” said David Marr, Senior Vice President of Brand Management, North America at Starwood Hotels & Resorts. “Companies are looking for ways to add value to their meeting experience and in concert with PepsiCo, our desire is to stimulate business through value-added incentives that provide a great benefit to group customers.”

“PepsiCo’s mission is to deliver ‘Performance with Purpose,’ so we couldn’t be more thrilled to join with Starwood to engage meeting planners in this unique, complimentary food and beverage break,” said Margery Schelling, Chief Marketing Officer for PepsiCo Foodservice. “We’re offering category-leading brands while making a lasting impact in the communities we serve together.”

For more information about Starwood Hotels “Get More for your Meeting, Give More to your Community” promotion, please visit www.starwoodhotels.com/valueaddedmeetings.

About Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with 1000 properties in nearly 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(R), The Luxury Collection(R), W(R), Westin(R), Le Meridien(R), Sheraton(R), Four Points(R) by Sheraton, and the recently launched Aloft(R), 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.

About PepsiCo

PepsiCo offers the world’s largest portfolio of billion-dollar food and beverage brands, including 19 different product lines that each generates more than $1 billion in annual retail sales. Our main businesses – Frito-Lay, Quaker, Pepsi-Cola, Tropicana and Gatorade – also make hundreds of other nourishing, tasty foods and drinks that bring joy to our consumers in more than 200 countries. With annualized revenues of nearly $60 billion, PepsiCo’s people are united by our unique commitment to sustainable growth, called Performance with Purpose. By dedicating ourselves to offering a broad array of choices for healthy, convenient and fun nourishment, reducing our environmental impact, and fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace culture, PepsiCo balances strong financial returns with giving back to our communities worldwide. In recognition of its continued sustainability efforts, PepsiCo was named for the third time to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World) and for the fourth time to the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index (DJSI North America) in 2009. For more information, please visit www.pepsico.com.

SOURCE: Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.

Media:
Starwood Hotels & Resorts
Erin Maxwell, 914-640-8408
erin.maxwell@starwoodhotels.com