Member hotels include W, Sheraton, Westin, Four Points, St Regis, the Luxury Collection, Le Meridien, Aloft and Element.

BBC: A guide to hotel loyalty programmes

Le Meridien Istanbul Etiler opened 6 March in a residential area of Istanbul.

BBC: Openings: New York, Chennai, Istanbul and Kiev

The pair were arrested on Jumeirah Beach hours after meeting at a champagne brunch at Dubai's five-star Le Meridien hotel.

BBC: Sex-on-beach trial Britons guilty

If Starwood will not play, there are other choices: Hyatt in America, Accor in France, or Granada's Posthouse and Le Meridien chains in Britain.

ECONOMIST: Room for reservations

Aleksandra Zielinski, a guest at the Parker Meridien, said she was trying to get back to the hotel to collect a bag, but was stopped at the barricade.

WSJ: Broken Crane Looms Over Neighborhood

France even held out against the Greenwich Meridien.

BBC: Part Three - France and the World

Steven Pipes, managing director of Le Parker Meridien, a hotel across the street from the site, said Tuesday morning that hotel staff and guests who had to rush to safety Monday weren't told when they would be able to re-enter the property.

WSJ: Broken Crane Looms Over Neighborhood

"You'd see a group of consultants hovering over a laptop, trying to prepare for a presentation, or else people had interviews, and the lobby wasn't providing enough privacy for the topic they were discussing, " says Brian Povinelli, senior vice president and global brand leader at Westin and Meridien.

CNN: Hotels vie to become offices of the future