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Service-Industry Smackdown

Are Starwood and Ritz-Carlton headed for a You Got Served style dance-off? It sure looks that way, with Ritz-Carlton unveiling plans this week to build a hotel on Starwood's home turf, in White Plains, N.Y.

It's a bold move for several reasons. One, White Plains doesn't have quite the same level of glamour of say, Central Park South, or even Dearborn, Ritz-Carlton's previous lowest common denominator. The mall is a big draw, as is the proximity to any number of restaurants that will serve you a bloomin' onion, but that's about it.

Two, do you really want to make Starwood angry? They have hotels everywhere. Now, every time an upper level Ritz-Carlton executive gets stuck at the airport overnight, they'll have to sleep in the terminal because they're on Starwood's "list". We'll keep our eyes on how this one develops.

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