Designer Philippe Starck, retailer Murray Moss, fashion designer Pascal Humbert and chef José Andrés are collaborating on the new SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills, the first of a new design-led luxury hotel concept.

Starck will design the hotel, the first of a series of SLS hotels around the world, while Moss is curating Bazaar, a design retail concept in the lobby.

Uniforms for hotel associates will be designed by French fashion designer Humbert, while Spanish Chef Andrés will oversee culinary activities.

The SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills is due to open late this summer. Starck has been contracted to design all SLS properties over 15 years in North America, the Caribbean and Mexico.

The following information is from parent company SBE Hotel Group:

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SBE HOTEL GROUP TO LAUNCH SLS HOTELS WITH FIRST PROPERTY OPENING IN LATE SUMMER 2008,
SLS AT BEVERLY HILLS

Offering a New Paradigm in Luxury Hospitality, Hotel Will Feature Distinctive International Partners Including Philippe Starck,
Culinary Innovator José Andrés and Design Vanguard Moss

(LOS ANGELES, CA – February 7, 2008) - SBE Hotel Group, a division of SBE, will debut its much-anticipated Philippe Starck designed SLS Hotels brand in late summer 2008 with the opening of the first SLS property, SLS at Beverly Hills. Introducing dynamic new concepts for dining and guest services, SLS will provide an evolved luxury hotel experience for today’s evolved traveler. Having teamed with some of the world’s most talented minds and companies in design, cuisine, wellness and service, SBE has created in SLS a spectacular and sophisticated hotel brand.

With designs by Philippe Starck, a culinary program crafted by Spanish Chef José Andrés, custom-curated retail by Moss, Pascal Humbert designed uniforms, and management by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., the collaborators behind SLS at Beverly Hills - all led by the highly acclaimed SBE Executive team - are rich on talent, ingenuity and longevity.

Philippe Starck, the creative mastermind behind SLS, is designing the look and feel of all SLS properties under a 15-year design exclusive with SBE for North America, the Caribbean and Mexico. SLS at Beverly Hills will be the first truly luxury hotel that Starck has designed in North America, having completely redefined every aspect of the hotel experience in the 1990s and spurred the ‘boutique hotel’ movement. Introducing a unique “dual” guest lobby concept where one will provide personalized service and check-in for hotel guests, while the other will play host to a lively, multi-faceted public dining and interactive retail component, Starck’s ingenious innovations for SLS promise to surprise, soothe, excite and enchant, and represent an important evolution for the celebrated designer.

The SLS experience will be further enhanced by SBE’s exclusive collaboration with renowned culinary innovator José Andrés, who will oversee all food and beverage concepts for SLS properties. In the gifted hands of chef Andrés, SLS guests will enjoy revolutionary culinary experiences in the hotels’ restaurants, lobby and bars, as well as in-room dining, banquets and meetings. A signature of SLS will be The Bazaar, the hotel’s public lobby reinvented as a fête extraordinaire with a heady array of pioneering culinary and lounge concepts.

Andrés, deemed “the boy wonder of culinary Washington” by the New York Times, was voted “Best Chef of the Mid-Atlantic Region” by the venerable James Beard Foundation in 2003 and “Chef of the Year” by Bon Appetit in 2004. He is internationally recognized for bringing both tradition and avant-garde Spanish fare to America, earning him the title of Spain's unofficial ambassador to the US and influencing the way Americans eat today. In May 2007, he was inducted into the Who’s Who of Food & Beverage in America by the James Beard Foundation and in 2008 debuted his first U.S. television show, “Made in Spain,” airing on public television nationwide.. Andrés and his THINKfoodGROUP team have created some of the most renowned Washington D.C. restaurants, including Jaleo, Oyamel, Zaytinya, Café Atlantico and his critically-acclaimed minibar by josé andrés.

The Bazaar at SLS at Beverly Hills will feature a revolutionary and innovative “shop without walls” retail concept with Moss, a renowned New York City-based design purveyor and trailblazer. Moss will offer SLS guests an engaging “windowless” shopping experience flowing through the hotel’s Bazaar, where an exciting array of unique and distinctive products reminiscent of items found in the grand hotels of Europe from the 18th and 19th century will be displayed in a series of free-standing glass vitrines. Additionally, SBE, has announced a partnership with French fashion designer Pascal Humbert to create a distinctive collection for SLS hotel associates. The SLS uniform collection consists of 80 separate styles in neutral tones, with modernistic details and characteristics that establish and define each position within the hotel.

The 297-room SLS at Beverly Hills will be operated under a management agreement with Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., as part of the prestigious Luxury Collection portfolio of distinctive properties, and will include seven “Fitness Suites” customized by leading Italian fitness training equipment manufacturer, Technogym. These fitness suites will showcase Technogym’s new Kinesis Personal equipment and Specialized Kinesis trainers will be available on call to hotel guests looking to enhance their in-room exercise program. Technogym’s innovative high-end design, progressive technology and dedicated focus on human well-being create an ideal pairing with SLS’ commitment to absolute innovation and the highest standards and their products will be incorporated into the hotel’s Starck designed fitness center.

Collaborating with Starck on the design and creation of SLS is SBE Chief Creative Officer Theresa Fatino, who directs all aspects of SBE’s environmental, interior and graphic design, and orchestrates such vital brand touchstones as operating supplies, staff attire, ambient music, and retailing. Before joining SBE, Fatino was a senior executive with W Hotels where she played a key role in numerous facets of the brand.

SLS at Beverly Hills joins SBE’s expanding roster of hotels which includes Miami’s Ritz Plaza which the company is currently redeveloping along with Makar Properties, for reopening in spring 2009, and Las Vegas’ famed Sahara Hotel & Casino, which will undergo a complete reinvention for completion in late 2010.

SBE’s launch of SLS Hotels, combined with its already successful development and operation of some of the country’s hottest restaurants and nightclubs, represents an incredible synergy that no other hotel group can match. SBE’s Hyde Lounge, S Bar, Area, The Abbey and Katsuya have all quickly become wildly popular destinations for Los Angeles’ A+ list, and additional U.S. locations for these brands are already in the works, including outposts at future SLS properties. SBE’s clientele will thus be able to enjoy not only incredible hotels but also fantastic restaurants and nightclubs, and receive VIP treatment and preferential access at each establishment. Sophisticated customer tracking systems will register guest preferences and ensure an incredibly personalized experience wherever they go.