Starwood Timeshare

For the next three years, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. will serve as the exclusive hotel sponsor of the Special Olympics as well as the exclusive hotel sponsor of the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Shanghai, China.

From now until June 30, 2007, Starwood will donate $50 to the Special Olympics for every Westin Heavenly Bed, Sheraton Sweet Sleeper Bed and Four Points by Sheraton Four Comfort bed sold through Starwood retail channels, up to a total of $150,000.

Steven J. Heyer is the Chief Executive Officer for Starwood Hotels as well as an active member of the Board of Directors of Special Olympics, Inc. Heyer says, “This unique global sponsorship will help increase public awareness of the Special Olympics, enhance our corporate social responsibility mission and further strengthen our brand presence in important travel markets and diverse local communities.”

Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. owns and manages 850 hotel properties under the brands of: St. Regis, Four Points by Sheraton, The Luxury Collection, W, Sheraton, Westin, Le Meridien and the newest brands, Aloft and Element. Additionally, timeshare vacation owners recognize Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc. as a premier timeshare company.

2007 marks the first time the Special Olympics World Summer Games will be held in Asia. The events are expected to attract roughly 7000 athletes, 40,000 volunteers and another 3500 officials, along with thousands and thousands of excited spectators, family members of the participants, volunteers and journalists.

To learn more about the unique role the Special Olympics plays in the lives of millions of people, visit their website at www.specialolympics.org.

And to learn more about opportunity to enjoy Starwood timeshare ownership or Interval timeshare, visit the website of www.sellmytimesharenow.com.

Starwood Capital Group has recently announced that they have entered into a strategic relationship with Shanghai Jin Jiang International Hotels Company Limited. Jin Jiang currently has 263 hotels either in operation or under development, including 160 properties under the brand, Jin Jiang Inn.

In response to Jin Jiang’s IPO, Starwood Capital has made a $30 million investment in the company, making Starwood the largest shareholder outside the Jin Jiang company. Before Starwood’s investment, Jin Jiang was a state-owned enterprise under the control of the Shanghai City Government.

The two hotel powerhouses will work together to develop and strengthen hotel business in China. Barry Sternlicht, the chairman and ceo of Starwood Capital, was quoted in Hospitality News (http://www.hospitalitynet.org) as saying, “Starwood Capital is very excited about the potential for Jin Jiang in China and abroad, and for our future partnership together… Jin Jiang’s geographic reach and portfolio of owned assets across all hotel categories leaves it uniquely positioned to benefit from the explosive growth in the Chinese hotel industry, fueled by rapidly expanding tourism and business travel. By combining Jin Jiang’s portfolio, which features irreplaceable hotels in Shanghai and other major Chinese cities, with our track record of creating global brands and enhancing asset value in both the luxury and budget categories, the partnership has the potential to create significant value for both companies going forward.”

And as we all know, where hotels go, timeshares and vacation ownership is sure to follow, which is good news as the People’s Republic of China prepares for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai.

I recently wrote about the new Starwood timeshare vacation property at Desert Willow, scheduled for development under the Westin brand in late 2007 or early 2008. I want to share a few enlightening facts about California’s Coachella Valley, the fastest growing area in all of Southern California.

And while I am not prognosticating or recommending that anyone plan a timeshare deal based solely on this information, I think you will find these statistics very interesting. Knowing the next “hot spot” destination can prove to be valuable insight for anyone looking to buy or sell a timeshare condo.

The Coachella Valley is a geographic area that extends roughly 45 miles from Palm Springs to the Salton Sea. Nine cities are located inside this target area: Rancho Mirage, Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Coachella, Indian Wells, Indio, Desert Hot Springs, La Quinta and Palm Desert. There are over 100 great golf courses located here, included the world famous courses at Mission Hills, La Quinta, PGA West, Indian Wells and Tamarisk, to name only a few. And according to research developed by the Global Hospitality Group, the population of the Coachella Valley increased by 59 percent between the years 1990 and 2004.

So what is attracting the influx of both new residents and vacationers to this area?

Surprisingly, despite the number of luxury homes and magnificent resorts, the cost of living in the Coachella Valley beats that of Los Angeles, San Diego or greater Orange County. And the Coachella Valley still represents the desert playground of old-time movie glam stars like Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby. While all this fast growth and projected development will gobble up nearly 200,000 acres of undeveloped land in the valley, the good news is that despite such expansion, there will still be roughly a million acres of vast, awesome, spectacularly unique undeveloped desert land.

Starwood Vacation Ownership, a Florida timeshare company, has announced plans to build a multi-million dollar timeshare project in Palm Desert, California.

Starwood Vacation Ownership timeshares (a division of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.) has purchased 28-plus acres of land from the Intrawest Company. Intrawest is a Canadian-based vacation ownership club, (a timeshare company) and already owns the 88-unit Club Intrawest timeshare condos at Palm Desert’s renowned Desert Willow Golf Course.

At the time the property was acquired in June 2006, Intrawest had requested and received government approval to develop 215 timeshare units there. Starwood timeshare seeks to increase the number of units to approximately 300, but must first obtain approval from the Palm Desert Architectural Review Committee, who will look at the issue of density as well as the aesthetic elements of the timeshare company’s overall plan.

Construction for the project is scheduled to begin in 2007 or early 2008. All timelines are tentative, based on obtaining the necessary permits and approvals. The proposed Desert Willow timeshare project will be Starwood Vacation Ownership’s second timeshare condo property in the Coachella Valley. It is part of the plan announced this past July by Starwood Resorts Worldwide to continue development and construction on projects throughout the US, Mexico and the Caribbean.

Raymond L. “Rip” Gellein, Jr., chief executive officer of Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc. says, “Starwood Vacation Ownership continues its robust growth under our Sheraton, Westin, and St. Regis brands, driving our aggressive expansion plans in new and existing domestic and international markets.”

The Desert Willow timeshare promotion will be branded as a Westin vacation ownership resort.