New Balance and Westin Hotels Join Forces to Help Travelers Stay Healthy and Fit on the Road

BOSTON and WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., Dec. 14, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Two renowned global brands in the fitness and hospitality categories are joining forces to empower travelers to stay healthy and fit when away from home.  New Balance and Westin Hotels & Resorts have forged an exclusive, worldwide partnership to help hotel guests overcome the hurdles of exercising on the road by providing New Balance footwear, apparel and fitness program content.  The complimentary program recently launched at 10 Westin properties across the globe and will begin rolling out brand-wide in 2011.

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No More Excuses - Pack Light and Still Stay Fit with Westin and New Balance  

Guests of the 10 Westin pilot properties have access to New Balance shoes, apparel and accessories through a product loan program.  During their stay, guests can borrow running shoes with brand new, disposable insoles for each use, as well as a variety of men's and women's apparel including shorts, shirts and socks for men and shorts, capri pants, shirts, sports bras and socks for women.  

Westin guests will also benefit from travel-specific fitness content and added-value experiences provided by New Balance.  New Balance Fitness Ambassador and Exercise TV celebrity trainer Holly Perkins will develop exclusive in-room fitness and equipment-free content that includes stretching and strengthening workouts, cardio and yoga.  The program includes "Wellness in Travel" tips from Holly on nutrition and creative ways to combat jet lag and promote healthy living.  In addition, New Balance is working with individual Westin properties to enhance its current three- and five-mile local area running maps.  As part of the partnership, participating properties will provide guests traveling to a city for a major athletic event, such as a marathon, with wellness amenities, including turn-down gifts with "performance/fuel" goodies for the race and "good luck" wake-up calls.

"Keeping guests' fitness goals in mind, we've partnered with New Balance to provide yet another option to help travelers stay well on-the-road," said Nancy London, Vice President, Westin Hotels & Resorts. "Guests simply need to show up ready for a great workout. We provide the rest."

"Convenient access to the proper athletic equipment and programming is vital to the traveler who wants to stay healthy and fit while they're away from home," said Hilary Keates, director of global marketing and brand management for New Balance. "New Balance is excited to partner with Westin to provide their health and fitness-minded guests with footwear, apparel, accessories and programming for an overall enhanced experience.  As leaders in our respective categories with like-minded consumers, this alliance made perfect sense."

The 10 participating pilot hotels include:  The Westin Boston Waterfront; The Westin Michigan Avenue; The Westin San Francisco Airport; The Westin Maui; The Westin Santa Fe; The Westin Jersey City; The Westin Beijing Chaoyang; The Westin Tokyo; The Westin Valencia; and The Westin Grand Berlin.  Additional details are also available on the co-branded website developed for this partnership at www.westin.com/newbalance.

The new fitness offering joins a host of wellness initiatives recently introduced by Westin Hotels & Resorts. In late 2009, the brand launched a sleep study and sleep hotline with the National Sleep Foundation aimed at helping travelers troubleshoot common sleep problems. In the fall of 2007, Westin partnered with SuperFoods Partners LLC to become the first hotel brand to create a SuperFoods-focused menu. In 2006, the brand introduced Breathe Westin and became the first in the industry to go smoke-free and offer guests a healthy, 100% smoke-free hotel experience.

This partnership is part of an ongoing effort by New Balance to forge innovative partnerships with active lifestyle and fashion brands that share a similar customer base, as evidenced by the company's recent collaborations with Heidi Klum on a global active wear collection and with J.Crew on a domestically-manufactured footwear collection.

About New Balance

New Balance, headquartered in Boston, MA has the following mission: Demonstrating responsible leadership, we build global brands that athletes are proud to wear, associates are proud to create and communities are proud to host.  New Balance employs more than 4,000 people around the globe, and in 2009 reported worldwide sales of $1.65 billion. For more information please visit http://www.newbalance.com.

About Westin Hotels & Resorts

Westin Hotels & Resorts makes the healthiest choices irresistibly appealing, so guests leave feeling better than when they arrived.  With over 170 hotels and resorts in over 36 countries and territories, Westin is owned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. Starwood Hotels is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with 1,000 properties in nearly 100 countries and territories with 145,000 employees at its owned and managed properties. Starwood Hotels 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 Meridien®, Sheraton®, Four Points® by Sheraton, and the recently launched Aloft®, 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.

SOURCE New Balance; Westin Hotels & Resorts