Starwood 2009 Annual Report Download - page 80

Congress and some states are considering or have undertaken actions to regulate and reduce greenhouse gas
emissions. New or revised laws and regulations or new interpretations of existing laws and regulations, such as those
related to climate change, could affect the operation of our hotels and/or result in significant additional expense and
operating restrictions on us. The cost impact of such legislation, regulation, or new interpretations would depend
upon the specific requirements enacted and cannot be determined at this time.
Environmental Laws are not the only source of environmental liability. Under common law, owners and
operators of real property may face liability for personal injury or property damage because of various environ-
mental conditions such as alleged exposure to hazardous or toxic substances (including, but not limited to, ACMs,
PCBs and CFCs), poor indoor air quality, radon or poor drinking water quality.
Although we have incurred and expect to incur remediation and various environmental-related costs during the
ordinary course of operations, management does not anticipate that such costs will have a material adverse effect on
our operations or financial condition.
Seasonality and Diversification
The hotel industry is seasonal in nature; however, the periods during which our properties experience higher
revenue activities vary from property to property and depend principally upon location. Generally, our revenues and
operating income have been lower in the first quarter than in the second, third or fourth quarters.
Comparability of Owned Hotel Results
We continually update and renovate our owned, leased and consolidated joint venture hotels. While under-
going renovation, these hotels are generally not operating at full capacity and, as such, these renovations can
negatively impact our owned hotel revenues and operating income. Other events, such as the occurrence of natural
disasters may cause a full or partial closure or sale of a hotel, and such events can negatively impact our revenues
and operating income. Finally as we pursue our strategy of reducing our investment in owned real estate assets, the
sale of such assets can significantly reduce our revenues and operating income.
Employees
At December 31, 2009, approximately 145,000 people were employed at our corporate offices, owned and
managed hotels and vacation ownership resorts, of whom approximately 34% were employed in the United States.
At December 31, 2009, approximately 39% of the U.S.-based employees were covered by various collective
bargaining agreements providing, generally, for basic pay rates, working hours, other conditions of employment
and orderly settlement of labor disputes. Generally, labor relations have been maintained in a normal and
satisfactory manner, and management believes that our employee relations are satisfactory.
Where You Can Find More Information
We file annual, quarterly and special reports, proxy statements and other information with the Securities &
Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Our SEC filings are available to the public over the Internet at the SEC’s web site
at http://www.sec.gov. Our SEC filings are also available on our website at http://www.starwoodhotels.com/
corporate/investor relations.html as soon as reasonably practicable after they are filed with or furnished to the SEC.
You may also read and copy any document we file with the SEC at its public reference room located at 100 F Street,
NE, in Washington, D.C. 20549 on official business days during the hours of 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Please call the SEC at
(800) SEC-0330 for further information. Our filings with the SEC are also available at the New York Stock
Exchange. For more information on obtaining copies of our public filings at the New York Stock Exchange, you
should call [phone]. You may also obtain a copy of our filings free of charge by calling Investor Relations
at [phone].
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