Entire Hotel Is Transformed into a Work of Art



“Light is life. Light is transformation. Our objective in San Francisco is to relaunch and recast Le Méridien with new light, to create a new view, and to celebrate its new life"
-- Thierry Dreyfus

On November 1, in an extraordinary installation of light and art, San Francisco will host the worldwide relaunch of Le Méridien following the November 2005 acquisition of Le Méridien by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT). Through a large scale contemporary expression of light and art, the new brand direction will become illuminated.
The internationally acclaimed lighting designer Thierry Dreyfus will re-imagine Le Méridien San Francisco, located at 333 Battery Street, into a tower of Mondrian-inspired light and color. The installation will transform the 24-story building into an ever-changing piece of contemporary art designed so that each guest becomes a contributor. It will be unveiled on November 1, 2006 and remain until January 31, 2007.

Thierry Dreyfus’ alliance was conceived of by Jérôme Sans, who was recently appointed Cultural Curator for Le Méridien. Jérôme Sans, an internationally renowned curator and founder of Paris’ acclaimed Palais de Tokyo museum, is directing the artistic restaging of the European-influenced brand by forging partnerships for Le Méridien with contemporary artists and art institutions worldwide.

Le Méridien San Francisco’s First Night celebrations and Thierry Dreyfus’ interactive installation will become a signature celebration for the opening of new Le Méridien hotels throughout North America and around the world. First Night in San Francisco marks the beginning of a series of global artist events for Le Méridien openings. First Night San Francisco will be followed by Shanghai (November 17, 2006) and Split, Croatia (April 2007).

“We are proud to work with artists of this caliber to revitalize Le Méridien. Through their contributions we will stimulate our guests’ passion by providing cultural experiences and engage them by playing an active role in the creation art. To do so in a culturally rich city like San Francisco makes this event even more remarkable,” said Eva Ziegler, senior vice president, Le Méridien Brand. “The sister-city relationship between San Francisco and Paris further distinguishes the aptness of bringing this high-end European lifestyle brand to one of the most European of American cities.”

Thierry Dreyfus gained fame in the late 1980s for his groundbreaking work with the Strasbourg Opera He created world headlines in 2005 when he won an international competition to create the artistic design for the highly-anticipated re-opening of Paris’ Grand Palais, a celebration that attracted 50,000 visitors to experience Thierry Dreyfus’ strikingly innovative lighting of the building’s magnificent glass and steel copula. He is also the lighting designer of choice for France’s fashion elite, from Yves Saint Laurent and Helmut Lang to Calvin Klein and Miguel Adrover.

Jérôme Sans, who has gained an international following for his work as a curator (Baltic in Newcastle/Gateshead), teacher (Central St. Martins; Milwaukee Institute of Visual Arts), author, journalist, musician, and arts provocateur, said, “Since we are starting a new era of Le Méridien history, I invited Thierry Dreyfus to reactivate the building, to put new life into it with a light installation and to create a scenario for the people in the building - a new physical and visual experience. Thierry is one of the leading artists dealing with light in various living environments and he was the right person to develop this first project in San Francisco and afterwards for other Le Méridien hotels worldwide.”

As part of the brand’s ongoing pursuit to bring art and culture alive in a new light for guests and host cities alike, Le Méridien has formed an alliance with Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA). The partnership will offer Le Méridien guests special access to YBCA as part of their stay and the opportunity to experience art in the hotel with an installation in an on-site gallery by New York based artist Hisham Bharoocha, currently exhibiting at the YBCA.

Synonymous worldwide with style, originality, and a passion for art, architecture, food, fashion, music and film since its founding in Paris in 1972, Le Méridien has come to represent the “art” of hospitality throughout the world, known as much for its elegance, finesse and panache as for its well-trained staff and commitment to providing guests with a new way of seeing the individuality of each of its locales.

Le Méridien brand, currently represented by more than 120 properties in 52 countries, was acquired by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide in November 2005. With close to 70 percent of its properties located in Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa and the Middle East, Le Méridien provides a strong international complement to Starwood’s primarily North American holdings. Plans call for dynamic expansion of Le Méridien-branded hotels within the next five years, concentrating in the U.S., Latin America, and Asia-Pacific, including destinations such as India, Thailand and China.

“Le Méridien is a perfect complement to the Starwood portfolio, with its international footprint and European-focused customer base,” said Javier Benito, Starwood executive vice president and chief marketing officer. “Le Méridien represents a great growth opportunity for Starwood, and further underscores Starwood’s position as one of the leading international consumer lifestyle hotel and leisure companies.”

With 360 deluxe rooms and an ideal location at the crossroads of San Francisco’s business, culture and shopping districts, Le Méridien adds a high European service standard and a unique experience to the city’s rapidly rebounding hotel landscape. Adjacent to the Federal Reserve Building and minutes away from popular destinations such as Union Square, the Embarcadero, Chinatown and Fisherman’s Wharf, the hotel boasts more than 13,000 square feet of meeting space, 10 meeting rooms, and four boardrooms. It is also the home to the fine-dining Park Grill Restaurant, one of the city’s renowned power breakfast and lunch destinations, as well as the intimate Bar 333.

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Le Méridien Appoints Art Provocateur to Transform Hotels Into Art Installations
Develops Interactive Arts Experiences as Innovative Marketing Campaign



In an unconventional move in hotel marketing, Le Méridien, the European-born brand which was recently acquired by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:HOT) has appointed Jérôme Sans as Cultural Curator. Jérôme Sans will create and direct a global grassroots experiential art campaign and forge partnerships with cultural institutions around the globe, targeting the “creative guest.” In its pursuit to stimulate its guests’ passion for arts and culture, Le Méridien has opted to launch a non-traditional marketing campaign through a series of unconventional arts experiences. The appointment of Jérôme Sans, a much-admired cult figure within the international art world was announced by Eva Ziegler, Senior Vice President for Le Méridien brand.

“Le Méridien aims to provide a new perspective, a new way of seeing the world for our guest, which we have defined as the creative guest. To connect with this target in a meaningful and relevant way, we need to an innovative and non-traditional approach,” said Eva Ziegler. “We needed more than the traditional, classical communication, we aim to provide an enriching experience. We know our guest values arts and culture and by creating interactive cultural experiences we will inspire and emotionally connect to them,” commented Ziegler.

Using Le Méridien hotels as art installations Jérôme Sans is creating a series of artistically themed events titled “First Night” for the brand’s new hotel openings. It is an exciting plan that launches with the new San Francisco property on November 1, 2006. For Le Méridien’s First Night San Francisco, Jérôme Sans enlisted internationally recognized lighting designer Thierry Dreyfus to re-imagine Le Méridien San Francisco into a tower of Mondrian-inspired light and color. The installation will transform the 24-story building into an ever-changing piece of contemporary art designed so that each guest becomes a contributor. It will be unveiled on November 1, 2006 and remain until January 31, 2007. Artistic experiences at Le Royal Meridien Shanghai and Le Méridien Lav, Split, Croatia will follow.

As Cultural Curator for the brand, Jérôme Sans will also be responsible for forging relationships for Le Méridien with emerging artists and arts institutions. The first alliance has been announced with Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, one of San Francisco’s foremost arts organizations which will curate an ongoing installation in San Francisco Le Méridien. This is the first of many artist partnerships for Le Méridien.

Jérôme Sans, co-founder of Paris’ acclaimed Palais de Tokyo, Site for Contemporary Art creation has achieved a devout international following as an independent curator. Jérôme Sans is currently the Director of Programme at Baltic – Contemporary Art Center in Newcastle/Gateshead, an author, journalist, musician, and arts provocateur.

The Le Méridien brand, currently represented by more than 120 properties in 52 countries, was acquired by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide in November 2005. With close to 70 percent of its properties located in Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa and the Middle East, Le Méridien provides a strong international complement to Starwood’s primarily North American holdings. Plans call for dynamic expansion of Le Méridien-branded hotels within the next five years, concentrating in the U.S., Latin America, and Asia-Pacific, including destinations such as India, Thailand and China

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Thierry Dreyfus’ lighting installations and design have gained worldwide recognition and imprinted the identity of the most prestigious fashion catwalks (Christian Dior, Louis Vuitton, Calvin Klein, Marni, Jil Sander), music stages (Sonic Youth, Phoenix, Liquid Architecture, Placebo), Operas (Paris, Istanbul…) and monumental buildings (Grand Palais, François Mitterand National Library in Paris).

Thierry Dreyfus tells stories with lights. He turns this untouchable skin into a form of inspiration and desire. A vibrant body that becomes a mirror to project yourself in, a volume, a space on its own. Each of his installations is thought to enable a specific perception of a place and its environment. He sets up interactive playgrounds where light becomes a media for a dialog between the architecture and the viewer.

Thierry Dreyfus creates fields of experience or visual landmarks, as guides to drive your eyes and enlighten vision.

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EVA ZIEGLER - SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, LE MERIDIEN HOTELS & RESORTS
STARWOOD HOTELS & RESORTS WORLDWIDE, INC.

Eva Ziegler is Senior Vice President, Le Méridien brand for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. She is responsible for the overall marketing and operations leadership for Le Méridien hotels and resorts worldwide with emphasis on the continued growth and positioning of the renowned global European brand. Eva is also responsible for the communication and execution of the brand vision for Le Méridien globally, which includes aligning the marketing strategies with the operational needs of the 120 plus hotels in 52 countries of Le Méridien portfolio. Born in Vienna, Austria, Eva earned her degree from the University of Economics Vienna, Austria. She joined Starwood from Toyota where she was Director of Le Rendez -Vous Toyota and played an integral role in developing and launching their leading edge European Brand Experience Center on the Champs-Elysées in Paris, France. She brings with her unique marketing experience from several Fortune 500 companies including Coca Cola and Saatchi & Saatchi. Eva is now based in Starwood’s headquarters office in White Plains, NY.