Le Meridien Angkor Supports the Angkor Hospital for Children with a Heart Pumping 460KM Bike Ride

Online, June 7, 2011 (Newswire.com) - The closest luxury hotel to the ancient temples of Angkor Wat, Le Meridien Angkor aims to increase awareness of The Angkor Hospital for Children's mission and raise enough funds for the open heart surgery of local 3-year old girl, Di Sreihi. To bring attention to this cause, Gregory Andreson, Le Meridien Angkor's General Manager, will embark on a 460km bicycle solo journey through the Cambodian countryside beginning on June 12, 2011 and concluding in Bangkok.

Di Sreihi was born 40 kilometres away from Cambodia's most important tourist attraction, Angkor Wat; unfortunately, she has a congenital heart disease called Ventricular Septal Defect; without surgical intervention she is unlikely to survive. Her family makes a living through farming, just like 80 percent of Cambodia's population, and subsists on less than USD 3-5 per day and is, thus, not able to afford little Sreihi's surgery. Think Yes! Fortunately, the Angkor Hospital for Children has secured a Singaporean team of surgeons who are ready to assist their Cambodian counterparts with the procedure. As the volunteer surgical teams are generously donating their time and experience, the cost of performing these life enhancing procedures at AHC has been greatly reduced to only the hospital costs of USD 3,500.

The Angkor Hospital for Children (AHC) provides free paediatric healthcare to the children affected by both poverty and disease in Siem Reap Province and Northern Cambodia. In a country with minimum-and at times non-existent-health care, AHC also works to strengthen Cambodia's Health infrastructure through the training of doctors, nurses and other health professionals, as well as rural government health workers and communities.

Anderson will begin a heart pumping bike ride commencing at the edge of the Angkor Archaeological Park in Siem Reap, Cambodia, riding west and across the border into Thailand to finish in Bangkok. He will be joined by a number of the hotel's associates for the first 10 kilometres of the journey. Anderson will embark on this excursion with only his bike, a camera, and a GPS unit, with which he will send updates and images of his whereabouts which will be posted on a photoblog at http://www.lemeridienangkor.com/thinkyes .

The inception of this initiative came about after Anderson visited the local hospital, "Hotels can do more than simply bring tourists to discover the local area, so I had a chat with the executive director, Dr. William Housworth, about different ways in which we could help their work within our community; this is one of multiple initiatives," said Anderson. Additionally, this project has been respectfully put together in memory of Dr. Eugene Tragus, affectionately known by the local community as Dr. Gene, who had an instrumental role in the development of the hospital and Cambodia's healthcare infrastructure for the past 15 years.

To donate and discover more please visit lemeridienangkor.com/thinkyes . One hundred percent of the money donated will be go directly to the Angkor Hospital for Children.

Le Meridien Angkor has been recently recognised at the World Travel Awards as Cambodia's Leading Hotel and Cambodia's Leading Spa for the fourth year in a row. Named the Oscar's of the Travel Industry by various publications, The World Travel Awards are held annually and represent the highest standard of excellence within the hospitality industry.

Note to editor:
ABOUT LE MERIDIEN
Le Meridien, the Paris-born hotel brand currently represented by 104 properties in 50 countries, was acquired by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT) in November 2005. Since then, Le Meridien has gone through a brand re-launch, which included appointing a full-time Cultural Curator - French arts-provocateur Jerôme Sans - and transforming numerous guest touch points, thus brining unique and interactive experiences to its guests. With close to 80 of its properties located in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, Le Meridien provides an international complement to Starwood's strong North American portfolio. Plans call for dynamic expansion of Le Meridien hotels and resorts within the next five years, concentrating in the U.S., Latin America, and Asia-Pacific, including destinations such as India, Thailand and China. Le Meridien recently opened new hotels in Dallas, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Shimei Bay (China), Xiamen (China), Chongqing Nan'an (China), Qingdao (China) and Taipei and recently signed a new deal in Coimbatore, India. For more information, please visit www.lemeridien.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 1051 properties in 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. 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 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

ABOUT ANGKOR HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN
Angkor Hospital for Children (AHC) is a charitable organization in Siem Reap, Cambodia, founded in 1999 through the efforts of acclaimed photographer Kenro Izu. AHC provides outpatient, inpatient, intensive, surgical, and HIV care, as well as other services, free of charge. Those patients or families who can afford to make small contribution are asked to do so. Over 120,000 Cambodian children are cared for at AHC every year. The hospital also supports greater Cambodian health care self-sufficiency through its Medical Education Center and provides community outreach in a variety of ways, including HIV/Homecare, Capacity Building and Health Education, and Nutrition programs. By supporting patients, families, and healthcare workers in their own communities, AHC helps to achieve sustainable, positive change.

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