Starwood 2005 Annual Report Download - page 46

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REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM ON INTERNAL
CONTROL OVER FINANCIAL REPORTING
The Board of Directors, Board of Trustees and Shareholders of
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. and Starwood Hotels & Resorts
We have audited management's assessment, included in the accompanying Management's Report on
Internal Control Over Financial Reporting, that Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (the ""Com-
pany'') and Starwood Hotels & Resorts (the ""Trust'') maintained eÅective internal control over Ñnancial
reporting as of December 31, 2005, based on criteria established in Internal Control Ì Integrated Framework
issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (the COSO criteria).
The Company's and the Trust's management is responsible for maintaining eÅective internal control over
Ñnancial reporting and for its assessment of the eÅectiveness of internal control over Ñnancial reporting. Our
responsibility is to express an opinion on management's assessment and an opinion on the eÅectiveness of the
Company's and the Trust's internal control over Ñnancial reporting based on our audits.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight
Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable
assurance about whether eÅective internal control over Ñnancial reporting was maintained in all material
respects. Our audits included obtaining an understanding of internal control over Ñnancial reporting,
evaluating management's assessment, testing and evaluating the design and operating eÅectiveness of internal
control, and performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe
that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
A company's internal control over Ñnancial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable
assurance regarding the reliability of Ñnancial reporting and the preparation of Ñnancial statements for external
purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company's internal control over
Ñnancial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that,
in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reÖect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company;
(2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of Ñnancial
statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of
the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the
company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized
acquisition, use, or disposition of the company's assets that could have a material eÅect on the Ñnancial
statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over Ñnancial reporting may not prevent or detect
misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of eÅectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that
controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the
policies or procedures may deteriorate.
In our opinion, management's assessment that the Company and the Trust maintained eÅective internal
control over Ñnancial reporting as of December 31, 2005, is fairly stated, in all material respects, based on the
COSO criteria. Also, in our opinion, the Company and the Trust maintained, in all material respects, eÅective
internal control over Ñnancial reporting as of December 31, 2005, based on the COSO criteria.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight
Board (United States), the consolidated balance sheets of the Company and the Trust as of December 31,
2005 and 2004, and the related consolidated statements of income, comprehensive income, equity, and cash
Öows of the Company for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2005 and the consolidated
statements of income and cash Öows of the Trust for each of the three years in the period ended December 31,
2005 and our report dated March 2, 2006 expressed an unqualiÑed opinion thereon.
ERNST & YOUNG LLP
New York, New York
March 2, 2006
42