Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

The Brands under Starwood Hotels & Resorts

*aloft - a vision of W Hotels

Introduced in 2005 with the first hotel opened in 2008, the aloft brand serves as a 'little sister' to the W Hotels, offering mid-scale select-service hotels. Starwood has announced plans to have 500 aloft hotels by 2012.

*Four Points by Sheraton

Four Points by Sheraton is Starwood Hotels & Resorts mid-market hotel brand, targeted towards business travelers and small conventions. Four Points was created by the former ITT Sheraton before Starwood acquired the firm in 1998. The brand includes hotels and resorts located in the United States, Canada, Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay, China, Australia, and the Middle East. There are plans to expand throughout China and Dubai. The original location has been operating ever since it opened in 1995.

Starwood Hotels promotes a simple, uncomplicated stay at their Four Points locations by offering programs such as their Best Brews and Four Pies. These programs (and other similar programs) were designed to give each guest an experience instead of just a room.

Smith Travel Research classifies Four Points hotels as "Upscale" whereas Westin and Sheraton categorize the hotels as "Upper Upscale". While all Four Points hotels have restaurants, fitness centers, meeting facilities, and swimming pools, the amenities are generally less luxurious or extravagant as Westin or Sheraton's. It competes with full-service, high-moderate priced hotels such as Clarion or Red Lion.

Four Points hotels also have a "Best Brews Program" and a chief beer officer, Scott Kerkmans, who selects Craft beer to serve in their hotels.

*Le Méridien

Le Méridien is an international hotel brand with a European perspective, formerly headquartered in the United Kingdom, with 130 properties. It is owned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide.

Le Méridien is a global hotel chain with a portfolio of more than 120 hotels in over 50 countries worldwide. The majority of its properties are located in cities and resorts throughout Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and the Americas.

Le Méridien History

The Le Méridien brand was established in 1972 by Air France "to provide a home away from home for its customers." The first Le Méridien property was a 1,000-room hotel in Paris -- Le Méridien Etoile. Within two years of operation the group had 10 hotels in Europe and Africa. Within the first six years the number of hotels had risen to 21 hotels in Europe, Africa, the French West Indies, Canada, South America, the Middle East and Mauritius. By 1991, the total number of Le Méridien properties had risen to 58.

In late 1994, Le Méridien was acquired by UK hotel giant, Forte Group, which in turn was acquired by Granada Group plc in 1996. Through a merger in the summer of 2000 between Forte's parent company, Granada Group plc, and global contract catering giant, Compass Group plc -- and the subsequent de-merger of the two companies in February 2001 -- the ownership of the Forte Hotel Group and its three brands (Le Méridien, Heritage Hotels and Posthouse Hotels) passed solely to Compass Group.

In May 2001, Nomura International plc announced the acquisition of Le Méridien Hotels & Resorts from Compass Group plc for £1.9 billion and Le Méridien was merged with Principal Hotels, which was acquired in February 2001. In December 2003, Lehman Brothers Holdings acquired the senior debt of Le Méridien.

On November 24, 2005, the Le Méridien brand and management fee business was acquired by Starwood Hotels & Resorts. The leased and owned real estate assets were acquired in a separate deal by a joint venture formed by Lehman Brothers and Starwood Capital (a company affiliated with Starwood Hotels & Resorts).

*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 core of The Luxury Collection which until 2008 still used the original CIGA logo, the Horses of Saint Mark, in Venice.

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 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. Many notable guests of Hotel Elephant in Weimar, Germany include Goethe, Liszt, Johan Sebastian Bach and Leo Tolstoy.

*Sheraton Hotels and Resorts

Sheraton Hotels and Resorts is Starwood Hotels & Resorts' largest and second oldest brand (Westin being the oldest). Sheraton Hotels and Resorts  providing luxury and upscale full-service hotels and resorts. One of the most recent innovations is "the Link@Sheraton", a project of its business centers partnering with Microsoft.

Sheraton history

The origins of the brand date back to 1937 when Ernest Henderson and Robert Moore acquired the Stonehaven Hotel in Springfield, Massachusetts. The chain got its name from another early hotel the men acquired, which had a lighted sign on the roof saying "Sheraton Hotel" that was too expensive to change. Instead, they decided to call all their hotels by that name.

Henderson and Moore had opened three hotels in Boston by 1939, continuing with their rapid expansion opening properties along the entire East coast. In 1945, it was the first hotel chain to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

In 1949 Sheraton expanded internationally with the purchase of two Canadian hotel chains. The 1960s saw the first Sheraton hotels outside the US and Canada with the opening of the Tel Aviv-Sheraton in 1961 and the Macuto-Sheraton outside Caracas, Venezuela, in 1963. By 1965, the 100th Sheraton had opened its doors. The multinational conglomerate ITT purchased the chain in 1968, after which it was known as ITT Sheraton.

ITT Sheraton reached a milestone in 1985. It became the first Western company to operate a hotel in the People's Republic of China assuming management of the state-built Great Wall Hotel in Beijing, which became the Great Wall Sheraton.

In 1994, ITT Sheraton purchased a controlling interest in the Italian CIGA chain, the Compagnia Italiana Grandi Alberghi, or Italian Grand Hotels Company, which had been seized from its previous owner, the Aga Khan, by its creditors. The chain had begun by operating hotels in Italy, but overexpanded across Europe just as a recession hit. These hotels formed the core of what came to be the ITT Sheraton Luxury group, later Starwood's Luxury Collection.

In April 1995, Sheraton introduced a new, mid-scale hotel brand Four Points by Sheraton Hotels, to replace the designation of certain hotels as Sheraton Inns.

In 1998, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. acquired ITT Sheraton (outbidding Hilton). It has since grown to become one of the leading hotel companies in the world. Its other brands include Four Points by Sheraton Hotels, St. Regis Hotels & Resorts, The Luxury Collection, Element , Le Méridien, W Hotels, and Aloft.

Since buying ITT Sheraton, Starwood has created a fourth brand from their hotels. St. Regis Hotels & Resorts are named after the famous hotel on Fifth Avenue in New York, which had been a Sheraton for years. That hotel and the former Sheraton Carlton in Washington, D.C., were two of the first hotels in the new chain, which now spreads across the globe.

*St. Regis

The St. Regis is one of Starwood's luxury brands. 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. The St. Regis brand has since expanded to 17 properties around the world, and there are 22 more properties in development.

*Westin Hotels & Resorts

The Westin Hotels & Resorts brand is Starwood's upper upscale luxury hotels and resorts brand, and it is the oldest brand within Starwood. Westin targets towards upscale business travelers and convention attendees. As of 2005 Westin operated over 120 hotels in 24 countries.

Westin History

In 1930, hotel owners Severt W. Thurston and Frank Dupar, both of Yakima, Washington USA, formed a partnership in order to manage their hotels more efficiently. Together with Peter and Adolph Schmidt they formed Western Hotels, with seventeen properties, all but one in the state of Washington.

Early management developed each property individually. After more than two decades of rapid growth, prompting a name change in 1954 to Western International Hotels, many of its properties were merged into a single corporate structure in 1958, and the company went public in 1963. For its 50th anniversary in 1980, it changed its name again to the current Westin Hotels & Resorts.

In 1970, the chain was acquired by UAL Corporation. In 1987, UAL Chairman Richard Ferris announced a plan to make UAL into Allegis, a travel conglomerate based around United Airlines, Hertz Rent a Car, Hilton Hotels, and Westin and linked by Apollo. This strategy failed, however, and Westin was sold to Aoki Corporation of Japan. In 1994 Aoki sold it to Starwood Capital, real estate investment firm and parent of Starwood Lodging, and Goldman Sachs, an investment bank. In 1998 Starwood assumed full ownership of the company.

Westin claims to have been the first hotel chain to introduce guest credit cards (in 1946), 24-hour room service (1969), and personal voice mail in each room (1991).

Westin markets certain amenities available in its properties to the public under the brand name Heavenly. In 2005, Westin became the first hotel company to gain a national retail store presence when Nordstrom started carrying the Heavenly Bed line in more than 60 stores.

Westin is reportedly refreshing its partnership with United Airlines. The company said they will begin offering products from their Heavenly Bed line on select United premium service routes between New York City and California.

*element by Westin

Announced in 2006, this is a green brand of hotels. The designs include energy and water efficient features. element is the world's first LEED certified hotel chain.

Properties

• Lexington, Massachusetts (July 1, 2008) LEED GOLD Certification
• Summerlin, Nevada (December, 2008)

W Hotels is a global luxury lifestyle brand with 25 properties in the most vibrant destinations around the world. Inspiring, iconic, innovative and influential, W Hotels provides the ultimate in insider access. Each hotel offers a unique mix of sophisticated design, chic comfort, and cultural influences from fashion to music, pop culture to art, and everything in between. W Hotels are unique and individual expressions of modern travel and stylish living, featuring world-class cuisine, destination bars and signature spas. In North America and Latin America, W Hotels have been announced in Austin, Buckhead Atlanta, Downtown Atlanta, Boston, Fort Lauderdale, Hoboken, Hollywood, Huntington Beach, Downtown New York, Santiago, South Beach, and Washington, D.C. In Europe, W Hotels have been announced in Athens, Barcelona, London, Manchester, Milan and St. Petersburg. In Asia, W has announced properties in Bangkok, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Macao-Studio City, Shanghai and Yokohama. In Africa and the Middle East, W has announced properties in Amman, Doha, Dubai-Festival City, Dubai-The Palm and Marrakech. W has plans to open W Retreat & Spa properties in Bali, Koh Samui, Vieques Island and Verbier, the latter of which will serve as W Hotels' first ski retreat.

 History of W Hotel

WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE

Combining the personality and style of an independent hotel with the reliability, consistency and attentive service of a major business hotel, W Hotels® has redefined the upscale hotel experience - becoming the most successful new hotel brand in the industry.

It began with the recognition that there are customers who seek a balance between style and substance - in their own lives, as in the destinations they choose. Each W hotel embodies this balance with a strikingly modern approach to design that is as refreshing, accessible and comfortable as one's own living space, and an emphasis on comfort, warm, attentive service and exceptional amenities.

The W experience began with the W New York (49th St. and Lexington), which opened its doors in December of 1998. An instant phenomenon, its success drove the development of more than a dozen new properties in exciting destinations - including Los Angeles, Honolulu and New Orleans - in an unprecedented two-year span.

Each hotel also offers signature restaurant and bar areas that attract not only the hotel guests, but in-the-know local residents as well. A collaboration with renowned chef Drew Nieporent led to the success of the restaurant Heartbeat in the first W New York, followed by Earth & Ocean at W Seattle and Icon at W New York - The Court. Following the creative excellence established by chefs like Todd English of Olives at W New York - Union Square and Tom Colicchio of Craft at W Dallas Victory.

It's an approach that reflects the W vision of the hotel as a wonderful gathering place, much like the grand hotels of the early 1900s. Now, W has become the modern destination where all of life's special moments can be celebrated.

Starwood Preferred Guest Membership

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.

Membership levels

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). 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). Those members who exceed either 25 stays or 50 nights, whichever occurs first, in a calendar year are awarded SPG Platinum Membership (Prefix P). There is also a very rare VIP membership (prefix V) which is by invitation only. 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.

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 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. SPG has won the Freddie Award for Best Award Redemption Category for the last 9 consecutive years, since 1999. Freddie Award website comments: "Starwood Preferred Guest's lack of award restrictions almost makes this an unfair fight. Starwood has owned this category since 1999, and this year is no exception."