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Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. | |
|---|---|
| Type | Public (NYSE: HOT) |
| Founded | 1969 as a REIT 1980 as a corporation[1] |
| Headquarters | White Plains, New York |
| Industry | Hotel chains, tourism |
| Products | Temporary residence |
| Revenue | $ 5.979 billion (2006) |
| Employees | 145,000 |
| Slogan | n/a |
| Website | www.starwoodhotels.com |
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT) 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. Starwood Preferred Guest is the company's frequent stay program.
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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.[2] 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."[citation needed] 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 franchisor 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.[3] Chairman of the Board Bruce Duncan served as interim CEO until September 2007, when the company announced Heyer's successor, Frits van Paasschen.
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 2010. Rooms will feature 10-12 feet high ceilings, emphasizing space and comfort with modern ammenities and, like other Starwood brands, a trademarked bed (yet to be announced). Suites are likely to be of a typical loft style design, featuring a living area leading to an upstairs bedroom which looks down over a balustrade to the living area below.
Aloft's focus is on encouraging guests out of their guestrooms to socialise 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.
Starwood plans to open the first hotels in Lexington, Massachusetts; Tucson, Arizona; San Francisco International Airport; Philadelphia International Airport; and the Cherry Creek area of Denver, Colorado. The chain's first international properties have been announced at Montreal and Toronto, Canada and Sydney, Australia. The Aloft Sydney Airport property will be Starwood's first development in Australia for many years and is planned for development on O'Riordan Street, only minutes from Sydney's busy International Airport. It is a welcome return for W Hotels to Australia since the sad loss of the W Hotel Sydney at Wooloomooloo in March of 2006 (now known as The Blue Hotel, managed by Taj Hotels). The Montreal property will be located at Pierre Trudeau International Airport, while the Toronto property will be downtown at Front & Niagara streets. Both are scheduled to open in 2007. Plans are also reportedly underway for several sites in Texas including Dallas, Las Colinas, Frisco, Plano, San Francisco and Houston.[4]
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.[5]
Currently there is 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 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 stylised font and colourful 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 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, it's 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 is 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 is a group of unique hotels and resorts offering exceptional service to an elite clientele. 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 in San Francisco, California USA was the world's largest hotel. Many Luxury Collection hotels were once residencies for European aristocracy and monachy, 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 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 is not technically a Sheraton hotel, nor is the Sheraton Laguna Resort Phuket.
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 is Starwood's largest brand and is internationally recognised among the ranks of Marriott and Hilton as one of the world's best.
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 Sleeper Bed.
The St. Regis is one of Starwood's luxury brand. Each property is designed to capture the distinctive personality of the destination. Since then, the St. Regis brand has expanded to over 12 properties including Washington D.C., Monarch Beach, Los Angeles, Houston, Aspen, Fort Lauderdale, London, Rome, Beijing, Shanghai, Singapore and Bora Bora.
Upcoming St. Regis Hotels and Resorts include Costa Rica, Baha Mar, Bahia Beach, Punta Mita, Bal Harbour, Atlanta, Deer Valley, Mexico City, Lhasa, Bali, Macao and Osaka.
St. Regis once had representation in Los Angeles and a second New York property, The St. Regis Club at the Essex House.
The new St. Regis Hotel Singapore provides a fleet of Bentley's for airport transfers and it's Residencies are the most expensive apartments in Singapore.
Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman celebrated their honeymoon at St. Regis Resort Bora Bora.
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, Montreal, Seoul, Dallas, two in both Chicago and New Orleans, 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, Dubia, 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 stylised with W Hotels; reception is referred to as 'Welcome', the pool is 'Wet'.
W Hotels has pioneered some very 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, turndown treat, doggysitting services and walks through Central Park.
Should a guest reserve the Mega Suite at W Seoul - Walkerhill, South Korea, the hotel will organise a red Jaguar for airport transfer!
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, homewares and toiletries.
Select W Hotels feature Residencies such as Dallas, Atlanta, Miami, Hollywood and New York.
The brand's signature bed is called the Signature W Bed.
The highest SPG category W Hotel, and therefore the most prestigous 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 attention to detail was quite amazing!
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 ("SPG") is Starwood's hotel rewards or 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.
For each applicable US dollar spent (to make the membership universal), a base member guest receives two starpoints. For an accomodation rate to be applicable for the earning of starpoints it must either be a 1) best avaiable rate (BAR rate) to be paid directly the hotel on check out, 2) an internet prepaid rate on a starwood website, 3) or a negotiated corporate rate. Group reservations and reservations made with third party websites are exempt from earning starpoints.
The base entry level of membership is referred to as 'Preferred' and the membership number will feature an 'A' prefix.
Should a guest have a corporate or business relationship with a Starwood property, their membership may be upgraded by invitation only to a Preferred Plus or Business Preferred (B suffix) or Corporate (Suffix C). These levels of membership include a host of additional benefits such as complimentary 4pm check out on request.
Those members who exceed either 10 stays or 25 nights, whichever occurs first, in a calendar year (1st of January - 31st of December) are awarded SPG Gold Membership (Prefix G). This level of membership entitles a guest to earn three starpoints per each illegible US dollar spent, a priority queue for check-in and complimentary 4pm check-out on request.
Those members who exceed either 25 stays or 50 nights, whichever occurs first, in a calendar year are awarded SPG Platinum Membership (Prefix P). This level membership entitles a guest to earn three starpoints for each illegible US dollar spent, complimentary upgrade to a best available room type including standard suites, complimentary newspaper, complimentary Executive Club access, guaranteed reservation with 72 hours prior notice priority queue for check-in and complimentary 4pm check-out on request.
There is also a very rare VIP membership (prefix V) with is by invitation only. This membership is essentially identical to SPG Platinum however allows the member a guaranteed reservation with 7 days notice and guaranteed complimentary upgrade to standard suites.
Lastly, there is also an Employee Level of membership (Prefix E). A Starwood associate (usually reception staff) may earn starpoints themselves for enrolling new members to SPG.
There are seven categories of Starwood Hotels and Resorts, 1 - 7 and each has a different starpoints requirement for free award night redemption (though some select hotels and resorts, such as the Le Parker Meridien New York, do not participate in Starwood Preferred Guest).
From Category 3 and above, a guest may redeem starpoints for five nights accomodation whereby the fifth night is free.
Subject to availablility, a guest may also participate in the SPG Cash and Points promotion, the redemption of a lesser sum of starpoints and then a small rate payable upon departure.
Category 1 hotels and resorts require only 2,000 - 3,000 starpoints for a free award night, or only 1,200 starpoints + US $25.00 for a Cash and Points night.
Category 2 hotels and resorts require only 3,000 - 4,000 starpoints for a free award night, or only 1,600 starpoints + US $30.00 for a Cash and Points night.
Category 3 hotels and resorts require 7,000 starpoints for a free award night, or only 2,800 starpoints + US $45.00 for a Cash and Points night.
Category 4 hotels and resorts require 10,000 starpoints for a free award night, or only 4,000 starpoints + US $60.00 for a Cash and Points night.
Category 5 hotels and resorts require 12,000 - 15,000 starpoints for a free award night (dependant on low/high season), or only 5,800 starpoints + US $90.00 for a Cash and Points night.
Category 6 hotels and resorts require 20,000 - 25,000 starpoints for a free award night (dependant on low/high season), or only 8,000 starpoints + US $150.00 for a Cash and Points night.
Category 7 hotels and resorts require 30,000 - 35,000 starpoints for a free award night (dependant on low/high season). Cash and Points is not available.
It has partnerships with firms such as American Express, MBNA Canada and 31 affiliated airlines. The hotel uses rich customer data to target market and provide customized customer experiences. According to Starwood Hotels & Resorts' corporate profile, the SPG program has over 27 million members. It was the first loyalty program in the hotel industry with a policy of no blackout dates and no capacity controls.
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.
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.
- ^ Form 10-Q. Retrieved on 2007-11-12.
- ^ Celarier, Michelle (February 1998). "The trouble with REITs - real estate investment trusts". CFO: Magazine for Senior Financial Executives. ISSN 8756-7113. OCLC 42457969. Retrieved on 2007-05-11.
- ^ Sanders, Peter; Joann S. Lublin. "Starwood CEO's Ouster Followed Battle with Board Over His Conduct", The Wall Street Journal, 2007-04-07. ISSN 0099-9660 OCLC 4299067. Retrieved on 2007-05-11.
- ^ Starwood Hotels & Resorts International - http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=78669&p=irol-newsArticle2&ID=1017718
- ^ Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (2006-09-22). Starwood Hotels & Resorts Unveils Its Newest Brand; ELEMENT Hotels, a Brand Extension of Westin, To Transform the Extended Stay Experience. Press release. Retrieved on 2007-05-11.
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