W Hotels
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.
owned, managed, or franchised 925 properties and as of December 31, 2007 the firm employed about 155,000 people.
History
Starwood headquarters in White Plains
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 boutique brand. In September 2005, Starwood announced the launch of aloft, a new hotel brand based on W.
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. 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.
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
Announced in 2005 with the first hotel opened in 2008, the Aloft brand serves as business-class variant of W Hotels, offering mid-scale select-service hotels. Starwood has announced plans to have 500 aloft hotels by 2012.
W Hotels
W Hotels was launched in 1999 and is Starwood's lifestyle brand marketed towards recent generations.
It offers accommodations pertaining to specific style, termed as "boutique" by Starwood. 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.
The Luxury Collection
The Luxury Collection is the result of ITT Sheraton's 1994 purchase of a controlling interest in the Italian CIGA chain, the Compagnia Italiana Grandi Alberghi, or Italian Grand Hotels Company. These hotels formed the original group of hotels owned by The Luxury Collection which until 2008 still used the original CIGA logo, the Horses of Saint Mark, in Venice.
Sheraton Poznań
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. One of the most recent features of the chain is "the Link@Sheraton", a project of its business centers partnering with Microsoft.
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. The designs include energy and water efficient features. element is the world's first LEED certified hotel chain.
Starwood Preferred Guest
Starwood Preferred Guest ("SPG") is Starwood's hotel rewards or loyalty program.
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).(Prefix G) is also awarded if a client spends $30,000.00 USD per year on their Starwood American Express Card. Those members who exceed either 25 stays or 50 nights, whichever occurs first, in a calendar year are awarded SPG Platinum Membership (Prefix P).
A Starwood associate (usually reception staff) may earn starpoints themselves for enrolling new members to SPG.
Redemption categories
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). For information on levels see the Starwood corporate website.
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. It was the first loyalty program in the hotel industry with a policy of no blackout dates and no capacity controls.
Awards
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. Freddie Award website comments: "Starwood Preferred Guest's lack of award restrictions almost makes this an unfair fight.