White Plains, N.Y. -- March 12, 2007 -- aloha! Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.® (NYSE:HOT) and its much-anticipated new lifestyle brand, aloft^SM hotels, announced it has signed an agreement with Thornsett Group Ltd, an Irish property development company, to develop the first aloft hotel in Europe, the aloft BrusselsSchuman, Belgium. The deal was signed at the 10th International Hotel Investment Forum in Berlin last week, when Starwood and its stylish W Hotels division introduced their aloft brand into the Europe, Middle East & Africa regions.  

The 150 guestroom aloft Brussels Schuman will be located on Rue Belliard, Leopold, in the ‘European' quarter of Brussels. The property is conveniently located approximately 800 feet from the European Commission and European Parliament buildings, and just minutes away from the Council of Ministers building.

The site has full planning permission for a mixed-use development with a gross development value of approximately U.S. $105 million. In addition to the aloft hotel, the 74,000 square foot development will also include 108 one- and two-bedroom apartments and approximately 5,000 square feet of retail space with parking.

Peter McCarthy, CEO, Thornsett Group, says, "I am delighted to have secured this significant agreement with Starwood. This deal allows us to develop the very first aloft branded hotel in Europe with one of the biggest and most successful hotel groups in the world, and we are very excited to be working with them. We feel the aloft brand is the perfect fit for our prime site in Brussels, and believe the hotel will appeal to both the business and leisure traveler due to its fantastic location in this amazing European city."

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