W Hotels Undress The Nation to Find Out What's Underneath And Survey Says ... President Bush Wears Boxers, Tobey Maguire, Briefs, Kid Rock Goes Commando.

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., Jun 18, 2002 (BUSINESS WIRE FEATURES) -- Bill Clinton may have been Commander in Briefs, but American women say President George W. Bush is a boxer guy.

In an attempt to answer an age-old question, W Hotels is undressing the nation to find out what's really underneath: boxers or briefs. A W Hotels study(a) of 1065 American females ages 18 or older conducted by Guideline Research and Consulting Corporation, exposes what women really think famous men around the globe are wearing:

Boxers:                                       Briefs:                                     Commando:
-------                                          ------                                       ---------
Michael Bloomberg                    Tiger Woods                           Howard Stern
President George W. Bush        Mel Gibson                             Lenny Kravitz
Will Smith                                   Pierce Brosnan                       Kid Rock
Regis Philbin                              Richard Gere
Ben Affleck                                 Matt Lauer
Carson Daley                             Freddie Prinze Jr.
Jon Stewart                                Derek Jeter
James Gandolfini                       Hugh Jackman
                                                  Tobey Maguire

Nice Package!

Why the fixation on underwear? The survey was conducted as part of the launch of W Hotel's new "Hang Loose" package. Guests will get more than just a good night's sleep when they book a "Hang Loose" package at reduced summer rates. Available at any one of W's 16 hotels every weekend this summer, anyone booking "Hang Loose" gets a free pair of limited edition Joe Boxer-designed "Wonderwear" boxers and two cocktails. Packages start at $109 per night.

To kick off the launch, June 18th has been designated "Hang Loose" day. The morning commute is bound to heat up as New York becomes a "State of Undress" with bold New Yorkers from various walks of life sporting nothing but boxers on their way to work.

In each W city around the globe, similar celebrations are planned:

-- W Chicago packs an extra punch with a boxers vs. brief match between underwear-clad models.
-- W San Diego's construction workers will take on their own "unfinished" look by braving the elements and building the foundation in their brazen skivvies.
-- W Seattle will "tie one on" with "Wonderwear" garlands wrapped around the hotel.
-- W San Francisco will canvass the city with sexy scenesters donning boxers. The day will climax with a twister match.
-- W Los Angeles will salute Southern California by flying "Wonderwear" boxers at full mast on their own long pole. Additionally, L.A's guests will be greeted in the lifts by "Wonderwear" clad elevator operators.
-- W Honolulu's renowned Friday night "Wonder Lounge" party perks up with scantily clad bartenders.
-- W Atlanta invites locals to "hang loose" in W's Living Room, enticing them with martinis and prizes for those brave enough to reveal their choice of boxers or briefs.
-- W Newark Suites will host a Boxer Club party where guests literally party with their pants down!
-- W New Orleans has couples stopping traffic in their briefs while the weekly downtown concert series has the band donning the boxers.

The first W Hotel opened in New York in December 1998. There are now five W Hotels in New York City (W New York, W New York -- Court, W New York -- Tuscany, W New York -- Union Square and W New York -- Times Square) and 16 hotels brand-wide in the U.S. and abroad. New W Hotels are in development or under construction in San Diego, Mexico City and Seoul, Korea.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with more than 740 properties in more than 80 countries and 110,000 employees at its owned and managed properties. With internationally renowned brands, Starwood is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchiser of hotels and resorts including: St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, Sheraton, Westin, Four Points by Sheraton, W brands, as well as Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc., one of the premier developers and operators of high quality vacation interval ownership resorts. For more information, please visit www.starwood.com or visit the W website at www.whotels.com.

(a) The survey is based on 1.065 telephone interviews conducted by Guideline Research and Consulting Corporation on a national omnibus survey during the period of May 17-19, 2002. The omnibus was conducted among a nationwide cross-section of adult American females age 18 or older living in the United States. These respondents were drawn from a nationally projectable RDD (random digit dialing) telephone sample. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points on the total.