LE MERIDIEN APPOINTS INNOVATORS IN ART, SCENT, SOUND AND LIGHT

Transforming The Arrival Experience

24 October, 2007 - In the ongoing commitment to bring unique and stimulating experiences to its guests, Le Méridien is transforming the arrival experience to enhance all of the guests’ senses. Proprietary customer research shows that the first ten minutes define the guests’ entire experience and establish their mindset. Therefore, transforming the Arrival Experience is one of the most important initiatives for Le Méridien. The new Arrival Experience is made up of four components: Transitional Portal, Sensory experience, UNLOCK ART and Elevated Experience.

“Le Méridien is committed to transforming the functional and transactional driven hotel experience into an emotional connection with our guests, said Eva Ziegler, Senior Vice President, Le Méridien. We aim to engage with our guests through every element of their experience, and go beyond just offering them a great stay. Through strategic relationships with artists and cultural institutions, Le Méridien brings to life its core values - CHIC, CULTURED, DISCOVERY.”

TRANSITIONAL PORTAL The Arrival Experience starts prior to walking through the hotel door, which is the reason for Le Méridien’s transformation of the transitional portal. Upon entering the hotel, a visual and audio effect – a “wall” of sound and art - will engulf each guest. The experience will reset the guests’ mind and signify their entrance into a new world. Transitional portal will create intrigue, and encourage Le Méridien’s guests to engage in a dialogue with associates to gain more information about these visual and sound effects.

SENSORY EXPERIENCE BY LE MERIDIEN Once through the transitional portal, guests will be enveloped with Le Méridien’s signature scent, sound, and use of light. Global lighting leader Philips Lighting Company has been appointed to work with Le Méridien brand worldwide on the lighting components, evoking a sense of warmth and drama depending on the occasion and time of the day.

Le Labo, the innovative perfume house, has created a signature scent for Le Méridien. Through the relationship with Le Labo, Le Méridien has developed an “olfactive” statement that is based on the brand’s values. This exclusive, custom scent will complete the guest’s experience by engaging memory and emotions through the sense of smell. For Le Méridien, Le Labo invented a new perfume structure. While traditional perfumes work within a top/middle/base pyramid structure, Le Méridien scent is shaped on a construction inspired by the meridian lines. The different fragrance notes of frankincense, musk, iris, and earthy notes vibrate from the central theme of cedar wood, creating a round, distinctive and enveloping scent.

Le Méridien’s collaboration with Sony BMG offers guests innovative, all-day complex and multi-dimensional sound that identifies Le Méridien brand and is part of the hotel atmosphere. The soundtracks were designed to cover all regions of the globe and provide a modern and timeless feeling. Music will build excitement, offer tracks in many languages, and give the hotel sound an international feeling.

ELEVATED EXPERIENCE Le Méridien will transform the expected and predictable event of riding an elevator into an “elevating experience” through video and sound. Le Méridien has appointed Henri Scars Struck, the visionary Grammy-winning French composer/producer, who will create the Elevated Experience for Le Méridien hotels globally. Scars Struck, a musician, composer and producer, has created and developed a formidable body of work encompassing various styles and origins. Some of the diverse artists/clients with whom he has collaborated include Malcolm McLaren, Lenny Kravitz, De La Soul, Charles Aznavour, Yves Saint Laurent, Jean Charles de Castelbajac and Roger Sanchez. Scars Struck has worked on Le Méridien FIRST NIGHT celebration of opening the San Francisco hotel, curating the musical experience for the guests. Most recently, he composed the 24-hour music/sound piece for the Transitional Portals and Elevated Experience in the hotels.

UNLOCK ART™ Developed to engage its guests, UNLOCK ART, Le Méridien’s innovative programme, will include an artist-designed keycard that offers access to more than just the guest room. The keycard, created by a contemporary artist, is intended to become a collector’s item and will grant guests complimentary access to a local cultural contemporary experience.

UNLOCK ART, curated by Le Méridien’s Cultural Curator Jérôme Sans, will re-launch the brand through new partnerships that will transform the guests’ experience long-term. In his role as Cultural Curator, Jérôme Sans curates global experiential art campaigns and forges partnerships with cultural institutions and upcoming artists around the globe, targeting the creative guest.

Currently, the UNLOCK ART programme is in pilot stages in numerous Le Méridien hotels in the world’s most exciting cities. UNLOCK ART enriches guests’ experiences through Le Méridien Francisco; Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Shanghai; Secession in Vienna; Nouveau Musée National de Monaco (NMNM); Galleriiizu Contemporary Arts Centre in Kuala Lumpur; Museo Pelopidas in Cancun; and Jean Leon and Miguel Torres wine making centre in El Vendrell, Spain.

By the end of 2008, every Le Méridien hotel worldwide will partner with a leading, progressive and forward-thinking cultural institution.

Le Méridien brand, currently represented by approximately 120 properties in 52 countries, was acquired by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide in November 2005. With close to 90 percent of its properties located in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, Le Méridien provides a strong international complement to Starwood’s primarily North American holdings. Plans call for dynamic expansion of Le Méridien-branded hotels and resorts within the next five years, concentrating in the U.S., Latin America, and Asia-Pacific, including destinations such as India, Thailand and China.

MEDIA CONTACT: Mary Jane Orman / maryjane.orman@starwoodhotels.com / +1 914 640 5287