Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. reported bleak fourth-quarter 2008 financial results yesterday, becoming the latest lodging company to close the book on a dismal year. Starwood said its fourth-quarter profit fell 46 percent and net income fell to $79 million, from $146 million a year earlier. Worldwide system-wide RevPAR for same-store hotels fell 12.1 percent compared to the same quarter last year, with W Hotels (21.1 percent) and St. Regis/Luxury Collection (23.3 percent) plunging the most.

“Our extensive cost-cutting efforts at the property level will help offset some of the margin erosion that results from declining RevPAR,” said CEO Frits van Paasschen in the released statement. “We also scaled back our capital spending in all areas for 2009. While the outlook for 2009 remains challenging, we are prepared for the worst and confident that we will emerge from this downturn stronger than ever.”

On Tuesday, during the Americas Lodging Investment Summit in San Diego, van Paasschen was on stage as part of the “Hotel Leaders Outlook: The View from Around the Globe” panel with CEOs from NH Hoteles, IHG, Hilton, the Jumeirah Group and Accor. The opening question to the panel was whether hope or fear was prevailing in the industry. Christopher Nassetta of Hilton answered first and said fear, but the Starwood CEO said neither, citing reason as what the industry should be focused on instead of trying to predict the future, an exercise in failure for just about everyone last year.

“It's like predicting weather and climate,” van Paasschen told an audience of more than 1,000 attendees. “I can tell you it will be hot and humid in New York this summer, but I can't tell you what it will be on July 15. The world economy will turn around in the next 10 years, but I just can't tell you when.”