SHERATON OKLAHOMA CITY DOWNTOWN WELCOMES EXECUTIVE CHEF ANTHONY RAINES

Oklahoma City, OK – Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Nimes Capital and Crescent Hotels & Resorts are pleased to announce the appointment of Anthony Raines as Executive Chef at the Sheraton Oklahoma City Downtown Hotel. In this role, Chef Raines will oversee all culinary aspects of the property’s food and beverage operations including 1889 Land Run Café, Aria Lounge, in-room dining and banquets.

“With Chef Raines’s culinary background and expertise, the hotel is positioned for success,” commented Nato Giordano, Vice President of Food & Beverage, Crescent Hotels & Resorts. “He joins us just in time for the launch of our new event space where he will oversee the food and beverage for this exciting new addition to the Oklahoma meetings offerings.”

Sheraton Oklahoma City Downtown Hotel’s newest meeting space, is a flexible event space perfect for weddings, special events, exhibits or breakouts and features a 29 foot ceiling with elegant hanging chandeliers. The beautiful new event space will come to life with the culinary experience provided by Chef Raines and his culinary team.

Chef Raines brings more than 30 years of culinary experience to his role, having studied under master chefs from around the world. He joins the Sheraton Oklahoma City team having most recently served as executive chef for the Oklahoma Thunder for four years. In this position he created all post game meals for the team with a focus on healthy and organic menus. As executive chef for the team, he had the opportunity to travel across the United States in the off-season working at high profile special events including the U.S. Open tennis tournament and numerous NASCAR events.

Chef Raines previous experience includes opening the Renaissance Hotel Oklahoma City as a Sous Chef and culinary positions at Scottsdale Princess Resort in Scottsdale, AZ; Peachtree Executive Conference Center in Atlanta, GA and Captain Daniels Stone Inn in Brunswick, NE.

“I am thrilled to be joining the team at Sheraton Oklahoma,” said Executive Chef, Anthony Raines. “I look forward to working with the team to offer our guests, whether from near or far, memorable experiences that will bring them back time and again.”

To learn more about Sheraton Oklahoma City Downtown Hotel, visit their website at www.SheratonOKC.com.

About Crescent Hotels & Resorts
Crescent Hotels & Resorts is a nationally recognized, top-5 operator of hotels and resorts. Crescent currently operates over 100 hotels and resorts in 36 states in the US and 4 provinces in Canada. Crescent is one of the few elite management companies approved to operate upper-upscale and luxury hotels under the brand families of Marriott, Hilton, Starwood, Hyatt and IHG. Crescent also operates a collection of legendary independent hotels and resorts. Crescent’s clients are made up of hotel REITs, private equity firms and major developers. For more information, please visit www.chrco.com.

About Nimes Capital
Nimes Capital is the private investment arm of Nazarian Enterprises which has a well-established track record of successful investing, including its role as a lead early-stage investor in Qualcomm, Inc. Led by David Nazarian, the Nimes team has invested in, operated and/or overseen a broad spectrum of investments, with a current focus on multi-family real estate and stable operating companies with strong market positions. In addition to its ownership interest in the Sheraton Downtown Oklahoma City, Nimes also holds majority ownership stakes in the adjacent Century Center and the Haven apartments, both of which have recently undergone substantial renovation. Nimes is headquartered in Los Angeles, California, with an additional real estate investment office in Austin, Texas. For more information, visit www.nimescapital.com.

About Sheraton Oklahoma City Downtown
Located next to the Cox Convention Center, across from the Chesapeake Energy Arena, Sheraton Oklahoma City Downtown Hotel is the metro’s largest business and convention hotel and the best choice among downtown OKC hotels. Located just two blocks from the legendary nightlife of Bricktown, the downtown OKC hotel puts guests in the center of fantastic things to do in Oklahoma City. Cheer on the OKC Thunder and OKC Energy, visit the Wild West at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, or see the animals of the world at the Oklahoma City Zoo. For more information visit www.sheratonokc.com.

About Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with more than 1,200 properties in some 100 countries and over 180,000 employees at its owned and managed properties. Starwood is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchisor of hotels, resorts and residences with the following internationally renowned brands: St. Regis^®, The Luxury Collection^®, W^®, Westin^®, Le Méridien^®, Sheraton^®, Four Points^® by Sheraton, Aloft^®, Element^® and the recently introduced Tribute Portfolio™. The Company boasts one of the industry’s leading loyalty programs, Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG^®), allowing members to earn and redeem points for room stays, room upgrades and flights, with no blackout dates. Starwood recently announced plans to spin off its Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc. business, a premier provider of world-class vacation experiences through villa-style resorts and privileged access to Starwood brands, into a standalone public company by the end of 2015. For more information, please visit www.starwoodhotels.com.