HONG KONG | Macao Studio City (MSC), one of Asia's first integrated leisure resort properties combining studios, retail, entertainment and world-class hotels today announced the arrival of the first W hotel to Macao at the Macao Studio City complex located on Cotai. The new hotel is named W Macao Studio City and will open in 2009. Offering 563 guest rooms, it will offer a unique mix of innovative design, comfort and cultural influences, from fashion to music to art and everything in between.

Today also marks a significant milestone for Macao Studio City. During the last 6 months since its groundbreaking, Macao Studio City has welcomed world renowned brands to the project, worth over US$2 billion, offering international visitors, business travelers and corporate customers a unique leisure and business travel experience. The all-star cast features industry leaders such as Taubman, Playboy Enterprises and the icon of Asian style, Mr. David Tang. The addition of W completes all the strategic partnerships that make up Macao Studio City's hotel products in phase 1. Four world-class hotel partners of Macao Studio City will add 1,902 hotel rooms to the booming Cotai area.

"Macao Studio City brings together the best hotel partners in the world and we are excited to partner with Starwood to bring the W to Macao," said Peter Lam, co-chairman of Macao Studio City. "Our vision is to create a must- see, must-stay and must-return destination for leisure and business travelers around the world. Along with other hotel partners -- not to mention the arrival of the Playboy Mansion Macao -- I firmly believe that Macao Studio City will be an experience that visitors will want to return again and again."

"W will captivate an in-crowd of lifestyle-oriented travelers by offering its special blend of cool experiences. The brand fits in very well with the overall design and direction of Macao Studio City and its positioning as the hippest and coolest place to be in Macao. Macao Studio City will be the place where the stars and celebrities will hang out," said David Friedman, co- chairman and co-chief executive officer of Macao Studio City.

Friedman added, "With the arrival of W, Macao Studio City has completed all its hotel partnerships and this is an important milestone for us. We are thrilled with the progress of the project. In the last 6 months since our groundbreaking, we made many important announcements and welcomed a vast array of brands who are all leaders in their respective industries. We have taken a major step towards our ultimate goal, which is to provide our customers a truly unique experience."

"Following the announcements of the Ws in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Guangzhou, W Macao Studio City is a logical extension of W's dynamic growth in China," said Miguel Ko, President of Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Asia Pacific. "W brings to life its own unique positioning, delivering a differentiated travel experience for travelers and will be an irresistible destination for visitors to Macao."

The 563 rooms and suites at W Macao Studio City will be outfitted with many W signature elements, including the world renowned W signature bed, The Living Room, W Cafe, state of the art fitness center, and featuring W's award winning Whatever/Whenever 24-hour concierge service. Other facilities include an 11,000 square feet of meeting space, an outdoor heated pool and private cabana service. W Macao Studio City will be designed by celebrity designer Charles Allem of Charles Allem Designs International.

"The Cotai area is seeing great momentum, and the addition of W Macao Studio City is certainly going to attract stylish and trendy customers who seek innovative design, comfort and cultural influences, to the 'new Macao'," said Mr. Ambrose Cheung, co-chief executive officer, Macao Studio City. "Macao Studio City is developing at a rapid pace; our recent announcements have brought other world-class brands in entertainment, retail and hospitality to the complex. We are confident that W Macao Studio City, as well as the Macao Studio City complex itself, will be a tremendous success when it opens in mid-2009."

Macao Studio City is being developed on a 32.3-acre site in Macao, strategically located "Where Cotai BeginsTM", next to the new Lotus Bridge immigration checkpoint, linking the complex directly to Zhuhai's Hengqin Island. When completed, Macao Studio City will boast some of the most comprehensive entertainment and retail facilities of any single property in Macao, as well as a one million square foot Studio RetailTM complex called The Mall at Studio City -- created in partnership with Taubman Centers, Inc. About W Hotels


W Hotels is a global lifestyle brand with 21 properties in the most vibrant cities around the world. Inspiring and indulging its guests with thoughtful, refreshing and stylish experiences, signature restaurants, bars and destination spas, W has become the fastest growing luxury hotel brand in the world. Each hotel offers a unique mix of innovative design, comfort, and cultural influences from fashion to music to art and everything in between. W's first residential property, W Dallas-Victory, opened in June of 2006, and soon thereafter was named a Forbes Magazine "Top Business Hotel." W Residences, offering the W lifestyle at home, have been announced for Scottsdale (2008), Midtown Atlanta (2008), Fort Lauderdale (2008), Buckhead (2008), Hoboken (2008), Downtown Atlanta (2009), Downtown New York (2009), South Beach (2009), Phoenix (2009), Hollywood (2009), Philadelphia (2009), and Austin (2010). Internationally, W has announced plans for hotels in Istanbul (2008), Doha (2008), Hong Kong (2008), St. Petersburg (2008), Athens (2008), Santiago (2008), Milan (2008), Dubai-Festival City (2008), Shanghai (2009), Barcelona (2009), Guangzhou (2010), and Dubai-The Palm (2010). W's first Retreat & Spa, W Maldives, opened in September of 2006 and in March of 2007, received the prestigious Travel + Leisure Design Award for Best Resort. W has plans to open Retreat & Spa hotels in Vieques (2008), Koh Samui (2008), and Verbier (2010), the latter of which will serve as W's first ski retreat. For more information, visit .

About Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.(R) is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with approximately 850 properties in more than 95 countries and 145,000 employees at its owned and managed properties. Starwood(R) Hotels is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchisor of hotels and resorts with the following internationally renowned brands: St. Regis(R), The Luxury Collection(R), Sheraton(R), Westin(R), Four Points(R) by Sheraton, W(R), Le Meridien(R) and the recently announced AloftSM and ElementSM Hotels. 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

About Macao Studio City
Macao Studio City is Asia's first leisure resort property with studios, retail, entertainment and world-class hotels, such as the Ritz-Carlton, Marriott, W and The Tang Hotel. Macao Studio City is being developed by Cyber One Agents Limited, a joint venture between New Cotai, LLC and East Asia Satellite Television Holdings, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based eSun Holdings ("eSun"; stock code: 571). Singapore's CapitaLand owns 33.3 per cent of East Asia Satellite Television Holdings while eSun Holdings owns the remaining 66.7 per cent.

eSun Holdings is one of Asia's leading media and entertainment companies and an associate company of Lai Sun Development ("LSD"; stock code: 488), a leading hotel and property developer. Both companies are part of Hong Kong's Lai Sun Group.

New Cotai, LLC is a consortium of US-based investors, including the co- chairman and co-CEO of Macao Studio City, David Friedman. Mr. Friedman is a veteran resort and gaming developer who led Las Vegas Sands' entry into Macao. The funds of New Cotai, LLC are managed by Silver Point Capital, L.P., a private US-based investment firm, and Oaktree Capital Management, LLC, a global independent investment management firm.

CapitaLand is one of the largest listed real estate companies in Asia. Headquartered in Singapore, the multinational company's core businesses in real estate, hospitality and real estate financial services are focused in gateway cities in Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East. The company's real estate and hospitality portfolio spans more than 90 cities in over 20 countries. CapitaLand also leverages on its significant real estate asset base, financial skills and market knowledge to develop real estate financial products and services in Singapore and the region.

For more information, please visit .

Hwee Peng Yeo
(65) 6335 4837
Starwood