Articles tagged “starwood”

The W brand has a knack for taking more design risks than the average corporate hotel chain, as well as implementing designs that don't sacrifice usability for bling.

The reliance upon a card that Aloft must send you in the mail seems like a step back rather than forward for all but the most frequent and loyal customers. Here's hoping Starwood expands this across all their brands for a much more useful service.

Rival execs mocked Starwood's decision to relocate, but the brand's leaders are definitely learning more on site than they are mulling over spreadsheets in a corporate campus.

Starwood believes the timing is right to get out of the real estate business to a great extent as it joins Marriott and InterContinental in focusing on management fees as the more stable and lucrative revenue stream.

Right now it is a race to be more international for all major hotel chains, and some do it with loud PR moves like Starwood, some do it in their own understated ways, like IHG. Either way, the growth's all east.

Starwood's globalization efforts mean it is taking a progress outlook on the world, and trying to listen and learn, and not just dictate.

The W brand may have cooled a bit in the U.S. since its heyday in the late 1990s, but it's mix of hip with high-end is a strong draw in Asia's hot design capitals.

Many skilled management employees flee Asian countries to find work, which leaves global hotel chains with few local hiring options and hefty costs to import overseas employees.

Aloft & W hotel is where the growth is brandwise, and China's where it is betting its future on. Europe's dragging it down, so no wonder.