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. So far, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. owned, managed, or franchised 925 properties and as of 2009 the firm employed about 145,000 people.
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 their "W" Hotels brand. In September 2005, Starwood announced the launch of aloft, a new hotel brand based on W. aloft Hotels catered 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
(The following list of Starwood brands is chronological, according to each brands' launch / hotel opening)
Sheraton
Main article: Sheraton Hotels and ResortsSheraton is Starwood's 'flagship' brand, providing luxury hotel and resort accommodation.
The Luxury Collection
The Luxury Collection brand was established when ITT Sheraton purchased the controlling interests of CIGA (Compagnia Italiana Grandi Alberghi, or Italian Grand Hotels Company), an Italian hotel chain, in 1994 ( ITT Sheraton was to one day itself be purchased by Starwood - see above ).
ITT Sheraton kept CIGA's original logo (the four horses of St. Mark) for The Luxury Collection brand logo, however as of September 2009, The Luxury Collection no longer uses this logo; each Luxury Collection hotel now uses its own logo.
Hybrid Brands
Some Sheraton and Westin hotels and resorts that had their branding 'hybridized' with The Luxury Collection, much to the confusion of many guests.
Many of The Luxury Collection's hotels and resorts pertain to their location or surroundings and vary in age and theme; Hotel Schloss Fuschl in Hof bei Salzburg, Austria is over 557 years old and at the time of its 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. Notable guests of Hotel Elephant in Weimar, Germany include Goethe, Liszt, Johan Sebastian Bach and Leo Tolstoy.
Westin
Main article: Westin HotelsThe Westin Hotels and Resorts brand is Starwood's largest upscale hotels and resorts brand, and it is the oldest brand within Starwood.
The hotel does have an official logo, but it is seldom used. It features a red bird taking flight, its wings a stylised 'W', all in a circle.
Four Points by Sheraton
Main article: Four Points by SheratonFour Points by Sheraton was launched in 1995 as a mid-scale, business hotel brand. Originally the brand was intended to be known as "Sheraton Inn", a 'little brother' equivalent of the full-service Sheraton brand.
St. Regis
St. Regis is Starwood's main luxury brand. The first St. Regis hotel was built in 1904 in Manhattan, and in the 1930s under head bartender Fernand Petiot introduced America to the Bloody Mary cocktail.
St. Regis' first resort property was St. Regis Resort Bora Bora, French Polynesia.
W Hotels
W Hotels is Starwood's luxury lifestyle / boutique hotel brand. Marketed towards a younger general crowd, the hotel brand was launched in 1998 with its first property, W New York, opening at 541 Lexington Avenue. The brand has since expanded internationally with properties opening first in Sydney, Mexico City and Seoul.
The brand's first resort property is W Maldives Retreat & Spa.
Le Méridien
Main article: Le MéridienLe Méridien is a French-founded hotel brand formerly headquartered in the United Kingdom, with 130 properties worldwide. Le Méridien was initially owned by Air France and its first property was Le Méridien Etoile in France. The brand was acquired by Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide in 2006.
Aloft
Aloft is a mid-scale, urban-style business / boutique hotel brand. The brand was launched in 2005 as a 'vision of W Hotels', a relationship similar to Four Points by Sheraton and its 'brand parent', Sheraton. Its first property was scheduled for Tucson, Arizona, but as of 2008 construction had not yet started.
Element by Westin
Announced in 2006, this is Starwood's first environmentally friendly brand of hotels. The designs include energy and water efficient features. Element is the first LEED certified hotel chain in the US.
Starwood Preferred Guest
Partnerships
It has partnerships with firms such as American Express, MBNA Canada Bank and 32 affiliated airlines. According to Starwood Hotels & Resorts' corporate profile, the SPG program has over 41 million members.
The hotel chain plans to open 10 new teleconferencing rooms, available for use at an hourly rate, by the end of 2009.
References
- ^ "Form 10-Q". p. 7 . http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=78669&p=irol-SECText&TEXT=aHR0cDovL2NjYm4uMTBrd2l6YXJkLmNvbS94bWwvZmlsaW5nLnhtbD9yZXBvPXRlbmsmaXBhZ2U9NTI2NTQ3MSZhdHRhY2g9T04%3d . Retrieved 2007-11-12 .
- ^ Celarier, Michelle (February 1998). "The trouble with REITs - real estate investment trusts" ( – Scholar search ). CFO: Magazine for Senior Financial Executives . OCLC 42457969. ISSN 8756-7113 . http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3870/is_n2_v14/ai_20390092/pg_1 . Retrieved 2007-05-11 .
- ^ Sanders, Peter; Joann S. Lublin ( 2007-04-07 ). "Starwood CEO's Ouster Followed Battle with Board Over His Conduct". The Wall Street Journal . ISSN 0099-9660 OCLC 4299067 . http://setup2.wsj.com/article/SB117590473824562740-C0wVg0bk4S0bRYE9gZwoaGPzsK0_20080429.html?mod=crnews . Retrieved 2007-05-11 . ...
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