Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide
| Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. |
 |
| Type |
Public |
| Founded |
1930 |
| Headquarters |
White Plains, New York |
| Industry |
Hotel chains, tourism |
| Products |
Temporary residence |
| Revenue |
$ 5.979 billion (2006) |
| 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. The company 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 145,000 employees and about 232,000 rooms worldwide. Starwood Preferred Guest is the company's frequent stay program.
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 and franchisor for its current and future hotel brands. In April 2007, Steven J. Heyer left the company after allegations of personal misconduct.
Properties
Sheraton Hotels and Resorts
Sheraton Hotels and Resorts is Starwood's largest and second oldest brand (Westin is the oldest).
Four Points by Sheraton
Four Points by Sheraton is Starwood's mid-market hotel brand.
Westin
The Westin Hotels brand includes hotels, resorts and spas located in Ireland, the United States, Australia, Canada, and other countries. Westin locations are targeted towards upscale business travelers and convention attendees.
The Luxury Collection
The Luxury Collection brand includes hotels and resorts located in the United States, Africa, Asia, Europe, Mexico, Latin America and the Middle East. The Luxury Collection affiliates with existing luxury hotels to affiliate with an international brand while preserving their recognized identities.
Le Méridien
Le Méridien is a French-style hotel brand formerly headquartered in the United Kingdom, with 130 properties. Its acquisition by Starwood was announced April 28, 2005 and completed November 24, 2005. Le Méridien will allow Starwood to continue expanding throughout Europe, the Middle East, North America and Africa.
St. Regis
The St. Regis brand includes hotels and resorts located in the United States, Mexico, Caribbean, Europe, and Asia.
W Hotels
The W Hotels brand features contemporary properties, with modern facilities. W Hotels' slogan is "Whatever, Whenever". They have locations in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Honolulu, Los Angeles, The Maldives, Mexico City, Montreal, New Orleans, New York City, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Seoul, and the Silicon Valley. New destinations include Atlanta (Midtown), Atlanta (Downtown), Atlanta (Buckhead), Barcelona, Fort Lauderdale, Hoboken, Hollywood, Hong Kong, Philadelphia, Scottsdale, Shanghai, South Beach, Milan, St. Petersburg, Athens, Istanbul, Vieques, and Verbier. The Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Scottsdale branches all feature a Spa.
Element
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.
aloft
Announced on September 28, 2005, the limited-service aloft brand combines the features of W Hotels and the value of Four Points by Sheraton. 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 in Canada. 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.
