About *wood
This is an informal blog dedicated to those with a passion for Starwood Hotels & Resorts. Welcome! Here you will find blog entries on Starwood’s new property openings and news-worthy current events, as well as valuable SPG promotions.
If you have any suggestions or comments, please send me an e-mail and say hello! Feel free to share this blog with anyone you think might have an interest in it. Thanks for stopping by!
About me
I’m a 26-year-old former business strategy & operations analyst with Deloitte Consulting. I recently made a challenging but rewarding decision to start a new career by taking a sales/marketing analyst role in pursuit of my personal interests and passion in hotels. I am currently a grad student in the Master of Management in Hospitality class of 2010 at the venerable Cornell University. I’ve learned so much in the last two years and look forward to growing in the hotel industry.
I started this blog as a way for me to learn a few new things about the industry and about Starwood with each post. The result to date has been hundreds of readers who visit the blog each day and learn along with me. Thank you for your support, and I’m glad that you are getting something out of this as well.
Where do I go from here?
I’m actively searching for positions with online travel companies such as Expedia and Priceline, as well as positions in online marketing at major hotel companies (not just Starwood). Between my analytical consulting skills, on-property operational experience, and a top notch education in hospitality/tourism, I hope I will achieve my career goals. Please wish me luck!
Disclaimer: This is an informal blog that is not affiliated with Starwood Hotels & Resorts in any way. It is intended to be a reflection of my personal thoughts and opinions. To the best of my knowledge, none of the info on this blog is confidential. Just about all the info in my posts are extracted from news articles, press releases, blog postings, and Google searches – all publicly accessible knowledge. What isn’t from these sources is just me thinking out loud.
How do I subscribe to your blog? Is there a way? Thanks!
Comment by Richard Lee — August 13, 2008 @ 7:11 pm
Hey there Richard! Thank you for your support. There are two ways to subscribe . . .
1) Paste in the following web address into any RSS reader:
http://starhot.wordpress.com
Any time a new entry is posted, your reader will pick it up. A good versatile RSS reader is Google . . .
https://www.google.com/accounts/ServiceLogin?hl=en&nui=1&service=reader&continue=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Freader
2) You can also bookmark the website in your favorites as I update just about every day. This will also allow for the best graphical display for pictures and video.
Thanks again for your interest, and I hope you continue to visit *wood!
Comment by sharkieva — August 13, 2008 @ 8:45 pm
I really like what you are doing with the *Wood blog.
Comment by Ric Garrido — September 22, 2008 @ 7:29 pm
Hi Thomas!
Thank you for sharing your blog starhot.wordpress.com in Travel Related Blogs group on blogcatalog dot com. My name is Alex and I am a moderator of this group and owner of tourtoo.com blog.
As you can see anybody may share any interesting tour, destination, hotel or anything travel related on tourtoo.com. So I invite you to post something interesting too. You can make it freely by going to tourtoo.com/add page or simple show me what you want to share and I will write it by myself.
I will be glad also if you will write something about my open blog tourtoo.com or just place link to it!
Thanks for your time and wait for your submissions!
Alexander
tourtoo.com
Comment by Alex — October 31, 2008 @ 2:28 pm
Hi Thomas, wonderful site, soo informative. I am a big *wood fan myself, even own 100 shares. i am a bit worried though since i heard they canceled the employee holiday party at corp h.q.. sounds like cash is a little tight, unless i have bad info… let me know if i’m wrong, i’ll be relieved!!
keep up the good work!!
cheers Ivan
Comment by wealthadvisor2003 — December 5, 2008 @ 8:10 am
Hey there, Ivan. Thanks for reading my blog, and I’m glad you find it very informative.
I wish I knew details about the corporate holiday party . . . I’m at a property-level on the west coast, so office matters that take place in White Plains headquarters don’t exactly make it to my desk. All I know is, I didn’t get invited!
The economy is taking its toll on many companies across the board. Being in the travel/tourism sector, Starwood is certainly being affected, but I think the diversity of its brands and the market segments they target create a balanced portfolio to weather the storm. The SPG program also helps the company retain and attract guests. Other companies don’t have the same brand power or loyal customer base, and they may not be in such a good position this downturn. Sorry I can’t provide any insight into the cash flows of the company.
Comment by sharkieva — December 5, 2008 @ 12:56 pm
Love Starwood although I lost my Marketing Manager position with Starwood VO earlier this year with a major office closing in Myrtle Beach SC.
I follow the stock and am considering investing again for a long term several year investment. Anyone have any thoughts on that?
I during my less then 2 year very successful tenure with VO I met some great people and learned quite a bit about this top notch organization. Time will tell but I believe Starwood is here to stay.
Comment by Mark — December 12, 2008 @ 5:31 pm
hi thomas, heard there is a new sheraton opening end of march in times square nyc!!! as i will be in nyc on business around that time i am curious if there is an opening event or two that you know of, that i might just try and sneak a peek at [ even though not 'technically' invited...
] cheers, ivan
Comment by wealthadvisor2003 — March 19, 2009 @ 11:24 am
Hi Thomas;
I would like to compliment you on this site. It is very well-done with a modern look and easy to read. Do you have a contact email address you would share in order for me to send you a somewhat lengthy question?
Thank You
Comment by Gary — March 24, 2009 @ 10:49 am
Hi Gary,
Thank you for your compliment! I’ve sent you an e-mail from my personal mailbox . . . feel free to reply at your leisure.
Warmest wishes,
Thomas
Comment by starwood — March 24, 2009 @ 11:28 am
Hi Thomas, can you email me today please, i am trying to help a girlfriend out, and have a starwood question for you. Thank you Very much.
Comment by Ivan Popov — March 30, 2009 @ 3:10 pm
Well Tommy.
Wonders never cease.
Of course I had to come to the blog and see what it is about.
I read the Press Release this morning (of course i still have Starwood Stock) about Ross and the other thief. 100,000 pages. That’s premeditated.
Anyway, I thought it funny that when i moved out of my apartment in the W Hotel the Court guess who moved in ???? Ross Klein.
Comment by Bobby — April 17, 2009 @ 10:46 am
Hi Thomas,
I’ve just come across your blog and I thought it was a really good read. I really loved your recent piece on the Royal Hawaiian.
We’ve created a travel-related item that I feel someone like you might be quite interested in. Essentially, it’s a quiz that’s been made just for a bit of fun, and it’s about adventurers and is generally just a fun thing to go with all things travel. I’d be really grateful if you could take a look at it and maybe put it up on your blog if you enjoy it, and I think it would even add some more value to your blog as a whole. It would be really helping me out if you could do this for me. You can find the quiz at http://www.tripbase.com/quiz/whichadventurer/, thanks!
Kind regards,
Sarah.
Comment by Sarah Thornberry — May 12, 2009 @ 7:47 am
Hi Thomas,
Glad to read that you are currently in Singapore. Feel free to drop me a note if you would like to meet up.
Let me know if you need any help during your stay.
Starwood Lurker AP
Comment by Thyetus — June 1, 2009 @ 8:54 pm