WESTIN HOTELS CONTINUES TO LEAD HEALTHY HOTEL REVOLUTION WITH LAUNCH OF WELLNESS ESCAPES – A CURATED SERIES OF ON-SITE WELL-BEING RETREATS

Holly Perkins, Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and Founder of Women’s Strength Nation, Kicks Off Series with Inaugural Retreat in San Diego in April 2015 and Joins the Westin Well-Being Council

STAMFORD, Conn. – March 2, 2015 – Westin Hotels & Resorts has revealed the next phase of its year-long Westin Well-being Movement with the announcement of Westin Wellness Escapes, an ongoing well-being series led by experts in the fields of mindfulness meditation, nutrition, yoga, running and more. Taking place at Westin properties around the globe, the series will first launch in North America before rolling out internationally. Established health and fitness personality Holly Perkins will kick off the series by hosting the Women’s Strength NationTM LIVE retreat this April, following her appointment to Westin’s Well-Being Council as the brand’s Move Well Advocate.

Westin Wellness Escapes are designed to inspire empowerment and help attendees pursue their well-being through interactive workshops, including fitness classes, healthy cooking courses, panel discussions, seminars and robust itineraries of wellness activities. The inaugural retreat, held at The Westin San Diego Gaslamp Quarter Hotel, April 10-12, will consist of a weekend-long curriculum of tutorials, exercises and activities designed to help participants’ cultivate their inner strength.

As a leading voice in fitness and the founder of Women’s Strength Nation, a resource dedicated to educating women on the value of strength training, Holly will offer guests the inspiration and tools needed to lead a healthy lifestyle. Westin will also partner with other wellness leaders to curate subsequent retreats in 2015.

“The Westin Wellness Escapes series is designed to motivate and educate those seeking to achieve or sustain a healthy lifestyle while still exploring the world,” said Brian Povinelli, Global Brand Leader for Westin. “Similar to Westin’s collaboration with New Balance, Holly’s involvement in the program reinforces the Move Well philosophy and lets us further cater to the diverse needs of our guests.”

Westin Picks Up the Pace with First-of-Its-Kind Series
Travelers are increasingly seeking quick and effective wellness breaks instead of extended holidays for mind and body reboots, choosing more accessible options that offer a brief change of scenery, relaxation and wellness activities. Leading research groups, such as Global Wellness Tourism Economy Report, predict that wellness tourism will grow by more than 9% per year through 2017, nearly 50% faster than overall global tourism.

Westin is capitalizing on this growing trend with Wellness Escapes to offer concise, thoughtfully organized itineraries for discerning, wellness-minded travelers. The series is inspired by the brand’s six pillars of well-being: Feel Well, Work Well, Move Well, Eat Well, Sleep Well and Play Well. Themes will vary across all events; with each workshop focused on well-being and the Westin brand philosophy, “For a Better You.”

The first Westin Wellness Escapes slated in the brand’s pipeline is as follows:

• Women’s Strength Nation LIVE with Fitness Expert Holly Perkins at The Westin San Diego Gaslamp Quarter – April 10-12, 2015
The weekend-long strength training retreat will enable attendees to achieve next level fitness through a multitude of educational sessions. Participants will learn techniques and methods derived from Holly’s Women’s Strength Nation platform to increase their strength while applying the concepts during morning workouts.

More about the inspiring series can be found at westin.com/wellnessescapes. Starting today, consumers can use the site to register for each of the upcoming retreats—including Women’s Strength Nation LIVE. To join the Westin Wellness Escapes conversation, we invite users to use #westinwellbeing on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Holly’s Fitness Fundamentals Bring to Life Westin’s Mantra “For a Better You”
With 20 years of experience in the health industry, Holly is a leading voice in women’s fitness and the ideal candidate to support the brand’s Move Well pillar and host the inaugural Westin Wellness Escapes retreat with her Women’s Strength Nation programming. Also, as part of the collaboration, Holly has produced four strength training videos with exclusive and engaging content focusing on tips and tricks for staying fit while traveling. Developed as 5-minute video segments, the films provide a comprehensive, equipment free, 20-minute workout which can easily be done in a guest room or at home. The video content will be accessible via on-demand for free at 80+ hotels across the country as of March 1st in addition to being available on Westin’s YouTube channels and westin.com/hollyperkins now.

As a certified strength and conditioning specialist, Holly’s success is derived from her philosophy that science should be the foundation of fitness. In 2014, Holly created the Women’s Strength Nation community to educate, inspire and lead women towards a new definition of inner strength. The platform serves as a resource for women seeking to enhance their strength in, and out of, the gym.

The Westin Well-being Council is a diverse advisory board composed of renowned thought leaders, each of whom aligns with a specific wellness brand pillar. Perkins joins Council members Ashley Koff, internationally-renowned dietician, Andy Puddicombe, Headspace Co-Founder and mediation expert, and media mogul Arianna Huffington in guiding and inspiring new initiatives, leveraging proprietary research to inform and introduce new programs throughout the year.

“It is exciting to join the Westin Well Being Council and help you stay fit even when you travel,” said Holly Perkins. “An active life is key to ensuring optimal health, wellbeing and vitality. In order to thrive, the human body needs to run, jump, dance and play every day. My mission in life is to provide inspiration and tools for you to create a fitness plan that works for your lifestyle and helps you achieve your personal best.”

About The Westin Well-being Movement
With a brand positioning rooted in wellness for more than a decade, Westin Hotels & Resorts is dedicated to ensuring that guests leave feeling better than when they arrived. Earlier this year the brand launched The Westin Well-Being Movement – a year-long global initiative designed to enhance the well-being of guests and associates with the introduction of a string of innovative partnerships and programs across the brand’s six pillars of well-being: Feel Well, Work Well, Move Well, Eat Well, Sleep Well and Play Well. Building upon its existing healthy SuperFoodsRx™ menus, Westin recently introduced new delicious and nutrient-rich offerings including Westin Fresh by The Juicery, featuring energizing juices and smoothies, and kid-tested nourishing dishes developed in partnership with SuperChefs on the Westin Eat Well Menu for Kids (Eat Well). The brand also recently announced a partnership with the mindful meditation app, Headspace (Feel Well), in which guests have exclusive access to customized content through the Westin website, designed to spread healthy benefits including decreasing stress, improving mood and increasing creativity.

The inspiration for Westin’s wellness strategy, the iconic Heavenly® Bed (Sleep Well) is beloved by guests and lauded as one of hospitality’s great innovations. WestinWORKOUT®, RunWESTIN™ and Westin Gear Lending with New Balance® (Move Well) together pack a formidable punch, offering guests a holistic fitness solution. The brand’s nature-inspired design, signature sensory welcome, Heavenly Bath and Heavenly Spa (Feel Well) offer a relaxing respite from the rigors of travel. Tangent (Work Well), an innovative workspace concept for small groups modeled to support today’s mobile traveler, is receiving rave reviews and high usage from guests in locations where available. Westin Weekend (Play Well) signature experiences are designed to let guests escape, discover and relax and the brand’s digital destination guide, Westin Finds from AFAR, provides guests with uniquely curated travel experiences.

For more information on Westin and the brand’s Well-Being Movement, click here. For more information on Westin Hotels & Resorts, please visit westin.com, Facebook or follow Westin on Twitter and Instagram.

About Westin Hotels & Resorts
Westin Hotels & Resorts has been a leader in wellness and hospitality for more than a decade. Today, Westin has more than 200 hotels and resorts in nearly 40 countries and territories, and is owned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with more than 1,200 properties in 100 countries and 181,400 employees at its owned and managed properties. Starwood is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchisor of hotels, resorts and residences with the following internationally renowned brands: St. Regis®, The Luxury Collection®, W®, Westin®, Le Méridien®, Sheraton®, Four Points® by Sheraton, Aloft®, and Element®. The Company boasts one of the industry’s leading loyalty programs, Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG®), allowing members to earn and redeem points for room stays, room upgrades and flights, with no blackout dates. Starwood also owns Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc., a premier provider of world-class vacation experiences through villa-style resorts and privileged access to Starwood brands. For more information, please visit www.starwoodhotels.com.