Starwood Is Back as Barry Sternlicht Rebrands SH

SH Hotels & Resorts announced Wednesday that it's officially rebranding as Starwood Hotels, reviving the company that Barry Sternlicht founded in 1991.

Sternlicht had built Starwood into a major player with the purchases of Westin and ITT Sheraton in 1997 and the launch of W Hotels the following year. Starwood reached the 1,000-hotel milestone in 2010. He sold Starwood to Marriott in 2015 for about $13 billion.

Skift reported in January that the new Starwood would be starting out much smaller, with just 14 hotels across three brands — Baccarat, 1 Hotels, and Treehouse. When it was sold in 2015, Starwood had amassed 1,300 properties and 11 brands. (See Skift's Full Timeline of the Starwood brand.)

A press release announcing the rebranding said Starwood has 40 openings planned or properties in development across four continents. Starwood has plans for significant growth this year, including openings in locations such as Seattle, Tokyo, and Copenhagen.

Starwood was an innovator in hotel loyalty programs. As loyalty expert Gary Leff noted, Starwood was the "first to market with 'true redemption' (any standard room was available for redemption on points) and suite upgrades for frequent guests, if available at check-in." It also "launched innovative loyalty features like 24-hour check-in."