St.Augustine's 44 2nd birthday celebration.

Get the party started early with the 9:30 a.m. re-enactment of the landing of Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles at the Mission of Nombre de Dios – the exact landing point of the Spanish colonists in 1565. The landing reenactment will be followed, as it was 442 years ago, with a celebration of Mass. Beginning at 10 a.m., walk through the Living Timeline on the grounds of Ponce de Leon’s Fountain of Youth. You’ll meet actual people who played a role in our city and Nation’s history, as well as authentic re-enacts representing more than four centuries of local history. The timeline will lead to the First Thanksgiving re-enactment where, at noon, an authentic Culinary Timeline Cooking Contest where foods dating from the 16th century will be created at a special encampment at the Fountain of Youth Archeological Park. Local restaurants will team with re-enactors to present authentic great tastes in amateur and professional classes. From 2-4 p.m., there will be free birthday cake served by the Royal Family and live entertainment, and craft demonstrations at the Colonial Spanish Quarter, located on St. George Street. The celebration will end at 7 p.m. with the season’s final Changing of the Guard at Government House on The Plaza. Admission is free to all of the day’s events. For more information, call 904.825.1004 or go St Augustine hotels

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Unveils New Starwood Preferred Guest Website - www.spg.com

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Unveils New Starwood Preferred Guest Website - www.spg.com
New Tools and Features like "MY SPG" and "HOTEL EXPLORER" Give Members Personalized Access and Customized On-Line ExperienceWHITE PLAINS, N.Y., Aug 08, 2007 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:HOT) announced today the re-design of SPG.com, the dedicated website for members of Starwood Preferred Guest - the industry's top rated hotel loyalty program. The re-designed site showcases a new look, new tools, features and downloads unprecedented in the hospitality industry that provide members with personalized access and a rich, customized on-line experience.
"The new SPG.com highlights the synergies between our award winning Loyalty program - Starwood Preferred Guest and Starwood's forward thinking and innovative web strategies," said Mark Vondrasek, senior vice president, Interactive Marketing and Loyalty Program, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Worldwide, Inc. "Our goal has always been to offer our members benefits that set a benchmark in the way travel loyalty programs do business and the new site remains true to this promise by delivering a vanguard and unique on-line experience that can only be found on SPG.com."
Introducing "MY SPG"
One of the highlights of the re-designed site is MY SPG - a personal portal that allows members to access their SPG account, customize the information displayed, and search for properties based on their own unique interests and favorite travel destinations. Through MY SPG, members can select which tools will appear in their portal every time they log on, including Special Offers, My Favorites, Award Quickfind and TheLobby.com. The new site also allows members to add innovative tools to their personal portal like the Starpoint Tracker which helps members manage and keep track of their Starpoint balances and wish lists.
Members can also download SPG Check-In, the first desktop application in the hotel industry that sends personalized, daily alerts to members with special offers based on their preferences. SPG Check-In also features the top stories of the day from the TheLobby.com, Starwood Preferred Guests' content-rich daily travel blog. To make sure members don't miss out on a great deal, SPG Check-In can be viewed on any handheld mobile device.
Discover New Travel Destinations with "HOTEL EXPLORER"
Looking for a new vacation destination or a beautiful new property? SPG.com's HOTEL EXPLORER makes it easy for members to discover new travel destinations and hotels based on a combination of personal interests and preferences. Are you a golf enthusiast who travels frequently to the West Coast for business? Interested in a new and exciting European destination with great dining and luxurious spa offerings? With just one click, the new SPG.com offers members exciting hotel options based on their favorite or most-frequently visited destinations and interests.
To further simplify the booking process, new hotel rate display technology allows members to search for a hotel and compare the various ways to book a room - by best available price, price in Starpoints, or by the Cash & Points combination. These options make booking a room fast and easy. In addition, complete property information, including photos and special offers for each property, can all be accessed via "drop downs" without leaving the search page.
"As the industry's leading hotel loyalty program, we are constantly striving to offer a rich, personalized on-line experience that goes beyond the transactional by also focusing on the lifestyles and passions of our members," said Robin Korman, vice president of loyalty marketing for Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. "The new SPG.com offers our members an easy way to book a stay, manage their account and access insights and recommendations on great new destinations that cater to their interests and travel persona. Our goal was to introduce cutting edge features that provide our members with a truly enriching on-line travel experience while saving them valuable time."
Starwood Preferred Guest(R) program's breakthrough policy of no blackout dates and no capacity controls offers members the ability to redeem awards at more resorts, more luxury properties, more European hotels and more golf properties than any other hotel program, which has proven to be a big draw for the world's most frequent travelers, and a significant competitive advantage. Key business destinations around the globe are covered and leisure opportunities are endless with more than 140 world-class resorts and over 4,536 holes of golf worldwide. For more information about Starwood Preferred Guest, or reservations, please visit the new and improved SPG.com or call (877) - STARWOOD.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with approximately 870 properties in more than 95 countries and 145,000 employees at its owned and managed properties. Starwood(R) Hotels is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchisor of hotels and resorts with the following internationally renowned brands: St. Regis(R), The Luxury Collection(R), Sheraton(R), Westin(R), Four Points(R) by Sheraton, W(R), Le Meridien(R) and the recently announced Aloft(SM )and Element(SM). Starwood Hotels also owns Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc., one of the premier developers and operators of high quality vacation interval ownership resorts. For more information, please visit www.starwoodhotels.com.
(Note: This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities regulations. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or events and involve risks and uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated at the time the forward-looking statements are made. These risks and uncertainties are presented in detail in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Although we believe the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, we can give no assurance that our expectations will be attained or that results and events will not materially differ. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.)
SOURCE: Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. Hotel Reservations