SBE Opens SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills

Featuring a Philippe Starck Design and Culinary Program by Chef Jos'e Andr'es

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. November 05, 2008

BEVERLY HILLS, CA, November 4, 2008. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT) and SBE today announced the debut of the 297 room Philippe Starck-designed SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills, A Luxury Collection Hotel. The hotel, formerly the Le Meridien Hotel Beverly Hills, is located at 465 S. La Cienega Boulevard, Los Angeles, California.

Introducing dynamic new concepts for dining and guest services, SLS offers a truly evolved luxury hospitality experience for today's global explorer. Created by some of the world's most talented minds, SLS features exclusive designs and custom furnishings by Philippe Starck, a culinary program crafted by Spanish Chef Jos'e Andr'es, custom-curated retail by Moss and Pascal Humbert-designed uniforms. SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills is operated under a management agreement with Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., as part of The Luxury Collection Hotels & Resorts, a glittering ensemble of more than 65 of the world's finest hotels and resorts in more than 26 countries in bustling cities and spectacular destinations around the world.

"We are proud to debut our latest global destination with the opening of SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills, A Luxury Collection Hotel in the highly desirable and dynamic heart of Los Angeles," said Frits Van Paasschen, President and Chief Executive Officer, Starwood Hotels & Resorts. "The hotel's leading-edge design by Philippe Starck, unparalleled epicurean offerings by Chef Jos'e Andr'es and innovative retail concept by Moss, make it an ideal setting for our latest hotel within The Luxury Collection brand, offering global explorers a portal to one of the world's most exciting cities."

"The opening of SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills is incredibly exciting for me and all of us at SBE, for it represents the culmination of over four years of creation and planning, but is really only the first step in our expansion plans for the SLS brand," said Sam Nazarian, CEO and Founder, SBE. Combined with SBE's already successful development and operation of some of the country's hottest restaurants and nightclubs, the addition of SLS represents an incredible and matchless synergy. SBE's Katsuya, XIV, Foxtail, Hyde Lounge, S Bar, Area, and The Abbey have all become wildly popular destinations for Los Angeles' A+ list, and additional U.S. locations for these brands are already in the works, including possible outposts at future SLS properties. SLS guests will thus be able to enjoy not only incredible hotels but also fantastic restaurants and nightclubs, and receive preferential access at each establishment.

Design mastermind Philippe Starck has created the look and feel of SLS under a 15-year design exclusive with SBE for the U.S., Caribbean and Mexico. SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills is the first truly luxury hotel that Starck has designed in North America, having single-handedly redefined every aspect of the hotel experience in the 1990s and spurred the 'boutique hotel' movement. Featuring a unique dual guest lobby concept where one caters exclusively to hotel guests, while the other is a lively, multi-faceted public dining and retail environment called The Bazaar by Jos'e Andr'es, Starck's ingenious innovations for SLS promise to surprise, soothe, excite and enchant, while representing an important evolution for the celebrated designer. Exclusively for SLS, Starck has also designed a collection of high-end furniture which is being manufactured by SLS partner, Cassina Contract, and is available for sale through the hotel. Collaborating with Starck on the design and creation of SLS is SBE Chief Creative Officer Theresa Fatino, who directs all aspects of SBE's marketing, environmental, interior and graphic design, and orchestrates such vital brand touchstones as operating supplies, staff attire, ambient music, and retailing.

The SLS experience is further enhanced by SBE's exclusive collaboration with renowned culinary innovator Jos'e Andr'es, who has created all food and beverage concepts for SLS. In the gifted hands of Chef Andr'es, SLS guests can enjoy revolutionary culinary experiences in the hotels' restaurants, lobbies, bars, and pool deck, as well as in-room dining, banquets and meetings. Exclusively for hotel guests, Andr'es has reinvented the concept of hotel dining with the innovative Tres restaurant in the private guest-only lobby as well as offering lighter fare on the panoramic pool deck, Altitude. A particular signature of SLS, The Bazaar by Jos'e Andr'es is "hotel lobby reinvented as f^ete extraordinaire" with a heady array of pioneering culinary and lounge concepts created by Andr'es - everything from traditional tapas to vegetable-focused small plates to a Patisserie to cutting-edge cocktails to roving carts of edible delights.

The Bazaar also features a revolutionary and innovative "shop without walls" retail concept curated by Moss, a renowned New York City-based design purveyor and trailblazer. SLS guests will be immediately engaged in the "windowless" shopping experience in The Bazaar, where objets d'art reminiscent of items found in the grand hotels of Europe from the 18th and 19th century are displayed in a series of free-standing glass vitrines. Additionally, SBE partnered with French fashion designer Pascal Humbert to create a distinctive uniform collection for SLS hotel ambassadors. The SLS uniforms consist of 80 separate styles in neutral tones, with modernistic details and characteristics that establish and define each position within the hotel.

The property includes seven "Lifestyle Suites" which offer built-in Kinesis Personal fitness equipment by leading Italian manufacturer, Technogym -- the first time ever this cutting-edge system has been available in a hotel. Specialized trainers provided by celebrated fitness guru Harley Pasternak are available on call to hotel guests looking to enhance their travel fitness regime. Technogym's innovative high-end design, and Pasternak's dedicated focus on human well-being create an ideal pairing with SLS' commitment to guest wellness and innovation.