Marriott to Manage Legendary Doral Golf Resort & Spa

WASHINGTON, Aug 19, 2004 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE: MAR) today announced that it has assumed management of the legendary Doral Golf Resort & Spa in Miami, Fla. The 692-room property will officially be named the Doral Golf Resort & Spa, A Marriott Resort and joins Marriott's world-class portfolio of 60 resorts worldwide. CNL Hotels & Resorts Inc., the nation's second largest hotel real estate investment trust, acquired the resort from KSL Recreation Corporation in April 2004. CNL plans to invest over $40 million over the next three years in capital improvements and expects to add a number of enhancements, including additional meeting space.

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"We're thrilled to be managing what is clearly one of the premier golf and spa resorts in the country," said Don Semmler, senior vice president, southeast region, Marriott International. "Doral has over 40 years of history and many longstanding traditions that we will embrace and enhance with Marriott's special brand of customer service."

"We are extremely excited to expand our strong relationship with Marriott International," said Thomas J. Hutchison III, CEO of CNL Hotels & Resorts. "The marriage of the legendary Doral brand and Marriott's broad-based management expertise promises to deliver an outstanding business and leisure destination, further enhanced by the global marketing reach to loyal Marriott customers."

Situated on 650 acres, the Doral Golf Resort & Spa features five championship golf courses, 90,000 square feet of meeting space, five restaurants, the acclaimed Jim McLean Golf School and the famed Arthur Ashe Tennis Center. The Blue Lagoon water recreation park features a 125-foot slide, waterfalls, cabanas, beach and boardwalk, and Camp Doral offers a full program of athletic and leisure activities for children. Awards and accolades recognizing the resort are numerous and include the prestigious ranking as one of the top 10 spas in the world on Conde Nast Traveler's Gold List. In addition, the Blue Monster Course has been rated Best in the World by The Golfer magazine and is among the "Top 100 You Can Play" according to Golf magazine.

Frank Garahan, a 25-year Marriott veteran and most recently general manager of Marriott's Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa in Rancho Mirage, Calif., has been appointed general manager of the resort.

Marriott Golf, the company's golf management division, will also take over management of the golf operations at Doral. Marriott Golf currently operates 47 golf courses at 37 facilities, offering more than 800 holes of championship golf in the U.S., Central America, the Caribbean, Europe and the Middle East. Marriott has been managing golf operations since 1970.

For more information or reservations, contact the Doral Golf & Spa Resort, A Marriott Resort directly at (800) 71-Doral, call the Marriott Worldwide Reservations Center at (800) 455-8254, or visit the hotel's web site at http://www.doralresort.com. Special summer packages are available through Sept. 30, 2004, offering savings of over 50 percent off in-season rates. Marriott Hotels & Resorts properties participate in the company's award- winning Marriott Rewards(R) frequent guest program. Members earn their choice of points toward free vacations or frequent flyer mileage for dollars spent at more than 2,400 Marriott hotels worldwide.

MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL, INC. (NYSE: MAR) is a leading lodging company with nearly 2,800 lodging properties in the United States and 69 other countries and territories. Marriott International operates and franchises hotels under the Marriott, JW Marriott, The Ritz-Carlton, Renaissance, Residence Inn, Courtyard, TownePlace Suites, Fairfield Inn, SpringHill Suites, Ramada International and Bulgari brand names; develops and operates vacation ownership resorts under the Marriott Vacation Club International, Horizons, The Ritz-Carlton Club and Marriott Grand Residence Club brands; operates Marriott Executive Apartments; provides furnished corporate housing through its Marriott ExecuStay division; and operates conference centers. The company is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and has approximately 128,000 employees. In fiscal year 2003, Marriott International reported sales from continuing operations of $9 billion. For more information or reservations, please visit our web site at http://www.marriott.com.

                                    IRPR#1

SOURCE Marriott International, Inc.

Matthew Carroll of Marriott International, +1-301-380-8331,
matthew.carroll@marriott.com; or Carol Murphy of Doral Golf Resort & Spa, A
Marriott Resort, +1-305-591-6471, cmurphy@doralresort.com
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