Everything about W Hotel totally explained
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is a
hospitality ownership, management, and franchise organization based in
White Plains, New York. One of the world's largest hotel companies, it owns, operates, franchises and manages hotels, resorts, spas, residences, and vacation ownership properties under its nine owned brands. As of
May 1,
2007 the firm owned, managed, or franchised more than 860 hotels in over 95 countries with about 232,000 rooms worldwide.
History
Starwood Hotels and Resorts was originally formed by the
real estate investment firm
Starwood Capital to take advantage of a tax break; at the time the company was known as Starwood Lodging. Initially, Starwood Lodging owned a number of hotels throughout North America, all under different brand names. The
Westin Hotel Company was purchased in 1994 from
Aoki Corporation of
Japan. Starwood acquired the
Sheraton,
Four Points by Sheraton, and The Luxury Collection brands from ITT Sheraton in 1998.
In 1999, Starwood launched "W" Hotels, a brand that has been described as a "fun, hip and exciting hotel collection that happily marries boutique hotel flair with the quality and functionality of larger brand hotels." In September 2005, Starwood announced the launch of aLoft, a new hotel brand based on W. aLoft Hotels cater toward
business travelers. Starwood intends to have 500 aLoft hotels worldwide by 2012. In 2005, Starwood purchased the Le Méridien brand, which greatly increased the company's operations in Europe.
In 2004, Starwood's founder and CEO
Barry Sternlicht stepped down as CEO to focus his attention on his other firm, Starwood Capital. He remained on the Board of Directors until 2005. He was succeeded as CEO by Steven J. Heyer, and Starwood began selling a number of its company-owned hotels, instead focusing on becoming a management company and
franchiser for its current and future hotel brands. In April 2007,
Steven J. Heyer left the company on the request of the Board of Directors because of an issue with Heyer's management style and after allegations of personal misconduct. Chairman of the Board Bruce Duncan served as interim CEO until September 2007, when the company announced Heyer's successor,
Frits van Paasschen.
Brands
Aloft; a vision of W Hotels
Announced on
September 28,
2005, the aloft brand will serve as a 'little sister' brand to the ultra-chic W Hotel brand, similar to Sheraton and Four Points by Sheraton.
The concept for aloft is a build-only brand of mid-scale hotels, 3 to 5 stories in height located in urban areas with up to 500 properties scheduled for completion before 2012. Rooms will feature 10-12 feet high ceilings, emphasizing space and comfort with modern amenities and, like other Starwood brands, a trademarked bed (yet to be announced). Suites are likely to be of a typical loft style design.
Aloft's focus is on encouraging guests out of their guest rooms to socialize in the Living Room (lobby) for a game of pool or to enjoy a dip in Splash (the pool). Another concept is a complimentary car wash, courtesy of the commissionaire department upon arrival.
Some of its first hotels will open in
Chicago,
İstanbul,
Minneapolis,
Philadelphia,
Portland and
Charleston in mid 2008, and the first internationally will open in
Beijing and
Montreal. Starwood has announced plans to have 500 Aloft hotels by 2012; as of late 2007 more than 50 were in development.
Element; Westin Hotels
element, a brand extension of Westin Hotels & Resorts, was announced on
September 22,
2006. It is an extended-stay hotel. Formerly known by its working title, Project ESW, element's design goal is "nature". It incorporates social meeting areas into the hotel's design.
Currently there's one location open with an additional hotel planned for
Summerlin,
Nevada scheduled to open in October of 2008 known as 'ELEMENT Las Vegas Summerlin'.
Four Points by Sheraton
Four Points by Sheraton is Starwood's mid-market hotel brand. It was established in 1995.
Four Points by Sheraton recently rebranded itself, altering it's logo's lettering (the same as Sheraton's) and compass image to that of a more stylized font and colorful pinwheel graphic.
The highest SPG category Four Points by Sheraton, and therefore the most prestigious Four Points by Sheraton, is the Four Points by Sheraton Manhattan Chelsea in New York.
Four Points by Sheraton's signature bed is the Four Points Comfort bed.
Le Méridien
Le Méridien is a French-inspired hotel brand formerly headquartered in the
United Kingdom, with 130 properties. Le Meridien was initially owned by
Air France and its first property was Le Meridien Etoile in France. The brand was acquired by Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide in 2006 and as a result, its loyalty program, Le Meridien Moments, ceased. However guests were able to have their accumulated points merged with an existing or new
Starwood Preferred Guest membership.
There is one Le Meridien property with no rooms; Le Cafe Royale London is a Convention Centre.
The highest SPG Category Le Meridien, and therefore the most prestigious Le Meridien, is the Le Meridien Bora Bora.
The Luxury Collection
The Luxury Collection is a group of unique hotels and resorts offering exceptional service to an elite clientèle. All of these hotels, some of them centuries old, are internationally recognized as being among the world's finest.
Many of The Luxury Collection's hotels and resorts have a rich and distinguished heritage; Hotel Schloss Fuschl in
Hof bei Salzburg, Austria is over 557 years old and at the time of it's completion in 1875, the 552 room
Palace Hotel, San Francisco,
California USA was the world's largest hotel. Many Luxury Collection hotels were once residencies for European
aristocracy and
monarchy, for example, Hotel Imperial in
Vienna,
Austria was once the residence of Prince of
Wurttemberg. Many notable guests of Hotel Elephant in
Weimar,
Germany include
Goethe,
Liszt,
Johan Sebastian Bach and
Leo Tolstoy. The Sheraton
Kuwait Hotel & Towers, which opened in 1966, has the honor of being the first Sheraton hotel in the world to be opened outside the United States.
The Luxury Collection hotels and resorts are distinguished by magnificent décor, spectacular settings, impeccable service and the latest in modern conveniences and amenities. In bustling cities and spectacular resorts around the world, The Luxury Collection provides the definitive hospitality experience for people of superior taste and refinement.
Often, a truly unique and exceptional Sheraton, Westin or Le Meridien property is branded as a The Luxury Collection hotel or resort, for example, the Sheraton Imperial Kuala Lumpur isn't technically a Sheraton hotel, nor is the Sheraton Laguna Resort Phuket or the Sheraton Kuwait Hotel & Towers.
The Luxury Collection also includes the smallest Starwood hotel or resort, the Hacienda Uayamon in Campeche, Mexico, with only 12 casitas including 2 suites.
Sheraton Hotels and Resorts
Sheraton has four rather unique resort properties in rural Pennsylvania in which you may only check-in if you're a couple.
There is one Sheraton in the United Arab Emirates which has no rooms; it's a country club.
The brand's signature bed is called the Sheraton Sweet Sleeper Bed.
St. Regis
The St. Regis is one of Starwood's luxury brands. Each property is designed to capture the distinctive personality of the destination. The first St. Regis hotel was in
Manhattan, and in the 1930s under head bartender
Fernand Petiot introduced
America to the
Bloody Mary cocktail.
The St. Regis brand has since expanded to 12 properties located in
Washington D.C.,
Monarch Beach,
San Francisco,
Houston,
Aspen,
Fort Lauderdale,
London,
Rome,
Beijing,
Shanghai,
Singapore and
Bora Bora.
Planned St. Regis Hotels and Resorts include
Costa Rica,
Baha Mar,
Bahia Beach,
Punta Mita,
Bal Harbour,
Atlanta,
Deer Valley,
Mexico City,
Lhasa,
Bali,
Macau and
Osaka.
St. Regis Residences are located in Aspen, Atlanta, Bahia Beach, Bal Harbour,
Bali, Costa Rica, Deer Valley, Fort Lauderdale,
Jakarta, Mexico City,
New York,
San Francisco and
Singapore.
The new St. Regis Hotel Singapore provides a fleet of
Bentleys for airport transfers and its residencies are the most expensive apartments in Singapore.
W Hotels
The uber-chic W Hotels brand was launched in 1998 with the opening of the original W New York, located at 541 Lexington Avenue; the second was W Atlanta - Perimeter. Since then, the W Hotel brand has expanded to over 30 properties including Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Seattle, Mexico City, Montreal, Seoul, Dallas, two in both Chicago and New Orleans, four in Atlanta, Honolulu, New Mexico and the first W Retreat and Spa in the Maldives. The original W New York hotel has been joined by four other local properties including W New York - Times Square, W New York - Union Square, W New York The Tuscany and W New York - The Court.
Upcoming W Hotels include Athens, Istanbul, Doha, Dubai, Santiago, Hong Kong, Macau, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Yokohama, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Scottsdale, Minneapolis, Hoboken, Philadelphia, Hollywood, Austin, Boston, and the second and third W Retreat and Spas in Vieques and Koh Samui, Thailand. A second Atlanta property is also scheduled.
Only one W Hotel has since closed / rebranded; in March of 2006 the W Sydney - Wooloomooloo rebranded to The Blue Hotel, owned by Taj Hotels.
Everything is stylized with W Hotels; reception is referred to as 'Welcome', the pool is 'Wet'.
W Hotels has pioneered some unique promotions in recent years such as Woof. The five W Hotels in New York welcome canine guests with a doggy Signature W Bed, doggy Bathrobe, turn down treat, doggy sitting services and walks through Central Park.
Should a guest reserve the Mega Suite at W Seoul - Walkerhill, South Korea, the hotel will organize a red Jaguar XJ for airport chauffeuring.
The only way to get to the W Retreat and Spa - Maldives is via the resorts' own private seaplane from Male.
Select W Hotels feature Bliss Spas, such as Dallas, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York.
Select W Hotels feature W The Store, such as New York, Chicago and San Diego, however items may also be purchased online. Items include upmarket clothing and accessories, home wares and toiletries.
Select W Hotels feature Residences such as Dallas, Atlanta, Miami, Hollywood and New York. Also, the planned W Austin is to have more space for residences than for hotel purposes.
The brand's signature bed is called the Signature W Bed.
The highest SPG category W Hotel, and therefore the most prestigious W Hotel, is W Retreat and Spa - Maldives.
An episode of
South Park in Season 10, "Hell on Earth 2006", featured the W Los Angeles - Westwood, where Satan held a Halloween party. The depiction was very accurate.
Westin Hotels & Resorts
The Westin Hotels & Resorts brand is Starwood's upper upscale luxury hotels and resorts brand. Westin locations are targeted towards upscale business travelers and convention attendees. Westin is the oldest brand. Westin's trademarked signature bed is the Westin Heavenly Sleeper, however Westin also has the Westin Heavenly Bath and Westin Heavenly Shower.
Starwood Preferred Guest
loyalty program. Membership is free and instantaneous, either online or with the assistance of a hotel's reception staff member. A temporary membership card can be attained at the time of joining SPG, however the delivery of a laminated card with an introductory package usually takes six to eight weeks time for delivery.
Since its inception in 1999, SPG has been awarded the Hotel Program of the Year six times by consumers via the prestigious
Freddie Awards. However, in recent years, it has failed to capture this important award.
Disney
Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, is known not only for their lavish
hotels, but also for their relationship with
The Walt Disney Company. On
January 13,
1990 the
Walt Disney World Swan opened under the
Westin Hotel brand. In June of 1990, the Swan's sister hotel opened, the
Walt Disney World Dolphin under the
Sheraton Hotels brand. Even though these two hotels are official Disney hotels, and are on Disney property, Starwood Hotels runs, operates, and manages both.
Matt Ouimet, president of the Starwood Hotel Group, was formerly the president of the
Disney Cruise Line and later the
Disneyland Resort in California.
Further Information
Get more info on 'W Hotel'.
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