Holy crap! Starwood global headquarters is moving to Connecticut!

Goodbye White Plains, hello CT waterfront!

I had to read the news on WSJ twice before I actually digested the info.  It looks like Starwood is going to relocate corporate headquarters from White Plains, NY to Stamford, CT.  The WSJ article reports that Connecticut lured Starwood by offering government incentives worth up to roughly $90 million.  After reporting losses after each quarter this year, those incentives were probably like sweet, sweet nectar.

Here’s some additional info from the online sources . . .

Starwood will move to Harbor Point, a large mixed-use real estate development under construction in Stamford’s south end, which is currently home to accounting firm Deloitte.  The landlord, a local firm called Building & Land Technologies will shoulder some of the cost of the estimated $40 million renovation of the 250,000-square-foot space.  Starwood said the move would save 20% annually in rent.

The relocation, slated to be completed in 2012, will bring an estimated 800 jobs to the state, Connecticut Governor Rell said.  The incentives include a $9.5 million loan, as much as $5 million in sales tax relief and up to $75 million in tax credits.

“After an extensive search for new office space for our worldwide headquarters, it became clear that this particular space in Stamford was an ideal choice,” said Frits van Paasschen, president and CEO of Starwood. “Not only did the state of Connecticut provide meaningful incentives that translate to a savings of 20 percent per year in rent, but we will also have the opportunity to design office space that reflects Starwood’s leadership in global hospitality, design and brand-building, as well as our commitment to the environment and our communities.”

Stumbled on some professional photos of the new W Boston!

I just stumbled upon Oleg March’s Photography website which had some professional pictures of the W Boston on display.  There’s a bunch of great photo sets on this site, along with numerous hotel interior shots from NY and Greece from what I saw.

The W Boston, with its 235 guestrooms and suites (plus residences), opened up earlier this month in the city’s historic theater district.  It’s a good lookin building isn’t it?

Eva Ziegler, Global Brand Leader for W and Le Meridien puts it best when she says . . .

“As our 35th W Hotel and ninth hotel to open in 2009 alone, W Boston marks a true milestone in W’s global expansion into the world’s most exciting and vibrant destinations.  Renowned designers Bentel & Bentel have designed a landmark building that takes a modern twist on Boston’s historic green spaces, creating a true urban oasis for guests and locals alike.”

And read this tease of a description of the property from the official press release . . .

Envisioning a “virtual garden” concept, Bentel & Bentel’s design expresses this in myriad ways throughout the rooms and public areas of the hotel.  Steel tendrils that define spaces and create visual interest are at the same time both organic and industrial.  Falling water in the lobby is juxtaposed against interior and exterior glass and the dynamic interplay with what’s happening outside on Stuart Street and in the Theatre District.  A modern fireplace is positioned at the most acute angle of the building providing a “beacon” of light to those passing by, enticing them to come inside to join in the fun.  Throughout the day, light is subtly transitioned as it filters through the building’s impressive glass exterior into the thoughtfully created spaces within the hotel.

Photo: Boston City Walk

Like any 100 year old, the Palace Hotel could do without some stress

I was in San Francisco this past weekend and got to see with my own two eyes a hotel strike for the very first time.  It was taking place on the entire sidewalk up and down the Palace Hotel’s exterior.

As reported in USA Today, workers that are part of a local union were striking to protest the progress of contract negotiations.  What’s got everyone so riled up?  Apparently health insurance has gone up and the workers don’t want to pay for it themselves.

All the picketting and protesting from union workers could not have come at a worse time for the Palace hotel.  Last Friday, the hotel was celebrating its 100th year anniversary with a spectacular party underneath the famous glass atrium ceiling.  Unfortunately, the scene wasn’t so pleasing on the sidewalk, where protesters were banging drums and delivering chants through megaphones.

Just a little bit of history — The Palace was rebuilt from the ground up in 1909, three years after the devastating earthquake of 1906.  It was originally built back in 1875 and was considered one of the most luxurious and glamorous hotels in the world.

Hopefully Starwood’s chief negotiators will sort out this mess with the local union sooner than later.  With several other properties in San Francisco, including the W and the Westin St. Francis, more strikes are certainly a possibility.  Let’s cross our fingers they won’t take place.

Here are some pics in and outside the hotel right before the 100th year anniversary party . . .

Tourists don't look too happy do they?

Is this beautiful or what?

Dear W Fort Lauderdale. I really miss your pool.

Today was Career Day at Cornell.  Aside from climbing up the slope in the rain while wearing my Sunday best, I was really looking forward to networking with recruiters from Starwood, Kimpton, Marriott, Expedia, and a cool company called Nor1.

Now that my interview with Expedia is over and the networking is done (at least for today), I’m ready for a quick break to reminisce about a recent stay at the W Fort Lauderdale.  Today’s rain really made me miss those warm southern Floridian days.

If I could sum up the new W Fort Lauderdale in a few words, I would describe it as the ultimate bachelor beach pad.  Aside from the modern beach design and the primo oceanfront real estate, it’s got a knockout pool party scene with some of the hottest bodies in southern Florida.  The W Fort Lauderdale takes the pool party lifestyle to the 10th degree with a rooftop pool, a live music DJ crankin out jams, and a huge deck that overlooks the Atlantic.  If you enjoy people watching, this is your weekend scene.  If you really enjoy people watching, then ditch your lounge chair and make your way to the steps that cut through the pool into the lobby below.

No idea what I’m talking about?  Check out the pics below and pay attention to that glass structure in the middle of the pool
. . .

China loves Starwood! 50 properties and counting, SPG membership soars

Starwood's 50th property in China

Looks like China is showing much love to Starwood these days.  The company just opened its 50th property in China, the Sheraton Jinan Hotel, which boasts 410 guest rooms and five restaurants/lounges.  Where the hell is Jinan though?

In the past 10 months, Starwood has signed 18 new hotel deals, and that’s not even the end of the party.  The company expects to have 100 properties in China by 2012.  2010 will also see the first W Hotel in Shanghai!  It’s about damn time.

And to think in 1985 Starwood was the only international hotel chain in China with the historic Great Wall Beijing Sheraton.

The Chinese have totally bought into Starwood’s Preferred Guest Program as well.  Reports indicate that China is SPG’s biggest source of new members, with enrollment jumping 50% in 2009 over last year.  China has now become the fourth largest member base of active SPG members, behind only the US, Canada, and the UK.

Starwood CEO, Frits van Paasschen said, “In a few short years, China will be one of the world’s largest outbound tourism markets with the Chinese generating more than 100 million trips a year. And when the Chinese do travel, they are going to stay in the brands that they know from home, which will have a meaningful effect on our business globally and underscores why we are investing so heavily in this critical market now.”

From a Starwood press release:

China is currently home to the largest number of Starwood hotels outside of North America, and it has the largest pipeline of new hotels outside of the United States. So far this year, Starwood has opened three hotels in China: Sheraton Jinan Hotel, Four Points by Sheraton Guangzhou-Dongpu and Sheraton Shunde Hotel. Through the remainder of the year, Starwood is expected to open four additional hotels: Le Meridien Qingdao, Le Meridien Chongqing-Nan’an, Four Points by Sheraton Lianyungang and The Westin Tianjin.

Source: Conference and Incentive Travel

Starwood ready to conquer travel social media with new Twitter and Facebook tools

Came across the announcement of SPG’s newest strategy to connect with its frequent travelers via social media.  The news came out this morning while I was lounging poolside at the W Fort Lauderdale, so apologies for not having this posted sooner.  I know many of you blog readers are into this kind of thing.

So SPG has launched a website with the aim of publicizing of all its social media channels.  This includes Starwood’s traditional thelobby.com blog, Twitter page, and Facebook fan page.  It also includes two nice enhancements related to Twitter and Facebook . . .

Help SPG Insider out. Contribute!

1) There’s the new SPG Insider which is a new map-based travel suggestions database powered by tweets.  In other words, you can use a mobile Twitter application to tweet tips on things like restaurants and bars in the city/town you’re visiting.  Then SPG does some magic trick and uploads your tweet tip on a shared Google map based on your GPS location.   The goal is to create a searchable world map that has a huge list of tips tweeted by SPG members.  Will this work?  Let’s hope this doesn’t fizzle and die out with the SPG community like it has with some other similar sites.  I also did a search for coffee/cafe tips for San Francisco and no results turned up.  How can that be!?  I guess it’s still in its infancy.  See instructions on how to tweet your recommendations on the right, and I included a screenshot of the map output below . . .

2) Then there’s the new SPG TripShare Facebook app that lets you share trip photos directly from your Facebook accounts.  You have to have the photos previously uploaded on your profile page.  Basically the app lets you choose up to five photos from a trip that’s already posted in a photo album on your Facebook profile.  Then you can tag them however you want.  The end result is a community of SPG members browsing photos of trips that may or may not be (but most likely will be) Starwood Hotels and destinations.  I think this will be the more entertaining of the two new social media functions, but I wonder how inappropriate or irrelevant photos will be weeded out.  I just did an upload of a recent trip to Waikiki with my five fave photos.  See the second screenshot below . . .

The new SPG Twitter function - GPS based tweets re: travel suggestions

The new SPG TripShare Facebook App - Share your fave five photos!

Here's all of Starwood's social media channels

Some quick remarks on hotel outlook from Starwood CEO and CFO

Starwood’s CEO, Frits van Paasschen, and Starwood CFO, Vasant Prabhu, both had some remarkable things to say in two recent interviews.  In a session with Bloomberg, Frits van Paasschen suggested emergence from the US recession may be signified by an increased in demand for the New York City hotel market.

“New York is a good leading indicator because it’s such a crossroad of so many places,” Van Paasschen said in the interview.  “Occupancy is starting to come back, yes, at low rates, but if this recovery looks like a normal recovery we would see in a couple of quarters rates come back as well.  I am just not sure if this is a normal recovery.”  Frits also said that Starwood’s luxury brands have picked up pace in markets such as Asia, Africa, and the Middle East excluding Dubai.

As much as I enjoyed taking advantage of the low rates at NYC hotels this summer, I’ve noticed they are starting to creep back up again.  It’s not too clear whether it’s due to high season or if there really is a resurgence in demand.  I’m hoping the hotel market, along with the job market, picks up for 2010 so more companies start hiring again.

Starwood CFO, Vasant Prabhu, offered his opinion in a separate presentation.  ”The next six weeks are very critical in my point of view.  It is the first indicator of what next year’s trends look like.”  Now that the summer travel season is wrapped up, Prabhu believes the next six weeks are a test of how business travel demand will shape up in 2010.

The Bloomberg article also highlighted that Starwood reduced its corporate workforce by 30% in the past two years in response to the economic downturn and to boost earnings.

Sheraton Manhattan at Times Square, a 665-room convention and business traveler property in NYC

Sources: Bloomberg, Reuters

On October 6 . . . Thousands of free rooms at Sheraton Hotels in celebration of a $4 billion Sheraton brand makeover

This Sheraton's in Shenzhen, China, so don't expect a free night here

Woohoo!  Sheraton is giving up thousands of free nights at many North American properties as part of a campaign promoting the $4 billion touch up of the Sheraton brand.  Starting October 6, the campaign for the free nights kicks off.  It’s important to note that the free night is available for redemption ONLY ON OCTOBER 23.  The free rooms will be released to guests on a first come first serve basis, and you’ve got to visit the following link between October 6-9 to have a chance at getting a comp night: www.sheraton.com/freenight.

A total of 86 newly renovated Sheratons in the US and Canada are chipping in rooms for this campaign, and roughly 2,100 rooms will be dished out to lucky guests.

“In North America, we’ve had a pretty mixed history. We’ve have some great hotels and we’ve have some hotels that were substandard,” said Hoyt Harper, SVP of brand management. “This is a new beginning for the brand.”

You better believe this poor grad student is gonna do everything he can to get a free room!

From the AP . . .

As part of the effort that was launched in 2007, Sheraton cut underperforming locations from its roster and added or renovated 70,000 Sheraton rooms around the globe. Nearly three-quarters of them were in the U.S. and Canada, and almost half of the brand’s 203 North American locations have been renovated through the effort.

Morningstar analyst Michelle Chang said such an undertaking is vital for hotels, which must constantly update themselves risk losing customers for good.

“If a hotel company doesn’t continually reinvest in their properties, it’s going to lose its luster, and it’s going to look run down,” she said. “And so you have to keep reinvesting in the property to keep it fresh and keep it new and keep it updated.”

Ross Klein departs from his position at Hilton following Starwood’s espionage lawsuit

What's left of DenizenHotels.com . . . nothing

The image to the right is what’s left of Hilton’s launched but then withdrawn Denizen Hotels brand website.  I remember it was a flashy site that sparked my curiosity big time about the new brand, but there’s not much to see these days when you visit the site today.

Remember Starwood’s lawsuit against Hilton re: the corporate espionage that led to Hilton’s ability to develop Denizen Hotels so quickly?  Just as a quick refresher, Hilton hired several Starwood employees including Ross Klein and Amar Lalvani, to lead the development of their lifestyle hotel brand.  Hilton at the time did not have a brand in this market category.  Hilton at this time still does not.

Hilton has recently replaced Ross Klein after the Starwood lawsuit accused him and Hilton of stealing highly confidential information.  Previously, Klein was placed on administrative leave back in April but apparently he is no longer with Hilton.  His successor is John Vanderslice of Miraval Spa.  Without any surprise, there is no comment from anyone.

From Times Online:

The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges that Mr Klein and Amar Lalvani, a former Starwood colleague who defected with him to Hilton, “stole massive amounts of proprietary and highly confidential Starwood information.”

The news that Mr Klein has left will reignite speculation that Hilton, which is also being sued, is close to agreeing a settlement with its rival aimed at drawing a line under what the writ called “the clearest imaginable case of corporate espionage, theft of trade secrets, unfair competition and computer fraud.”

Kimpton Hotels joins Element Hotels on going 100% green!

Kimpton Hotels just announced that it has made a strategic decision to convert all of its 50 or so properties into “green” certified hotels.  This initiative is similar to the strategy behind Starwood’s Element Hotels, though there are some key differences.  Primarily, the organizations that are conducting the inspection and certification for each hotel company are not the same.  Kimpton is applying for certification through Green Seal, which is an independent, non-profit organization.  Starwood’s Element Hotels is going through the US Green Building Council and their LEED certification.  Once each of Kimpton’s properties receive Green Seal certification, the company will boast the largest portfolio of ALL green certified hotels in the US.

Currently Kimpton Hotels has already achieved Green Seal certification for several of its properties.  In Chicago, the Hotel Allegro, Hotel Burnham, and Hotel Monaco have all received Silver Green Seal certification.  And let’s not forget about the Hotel Monaco in Portland, which has also received honors.

While going green is certainly the “in” thing to do in the hotel industry, the economic downturn has made many owners and developers prioritize these initiatives a bit lower in the food chain.  It’s good to see that this California-based hotel company is still setting a good example, which I’m sure chain after chain will mimic in the  next few years once the economy ramps back up.

Source: USA Today