Starwood Debuted 74 Hotels in 2013
Hotel & Resort Claudette Covey January 07, 2014

Suffice it to say that 2013 was a good year for Starwood Hotels & Resorts. All tolled, the company said it opened 74 new hotels and signed 152 new hotel agreements. Last year was also the fourth consecutive year of increased signings, with the largest number of new hotel deals since 2007.
Starwood signed 152 new hotel management and franchise agreements, a 16 percent over 2012. The company also signed 75 contract renewals, up nearly 34 percent from the previous year.
Almost 75 percent of the company’s development pipeline and 60 percent of the 2013 signings were in such growth markets as Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia, Colombia and Saudi Arabia.
“Globalization continues to spur economic growth, infrastructure development and, for us, footprint expansion,” said Frits van Paasschen, president and CEO of Starwood in a statement. “2014 already looks to be shaping up as a better version of 2013 with a number of key milestones for us, including the opening of our 200th Westin, 200th Four Points by Sheraton, and more Le Méridien hotels in any one year since we acquired the brand in 2005.”
Starwood said about 40 percent of last year’s signings were in developed markets, with 13 conversions that signed and opened within the year.
The company also debuted three adoptive use projects last year, including Aloft Orlando Downtown, Aloft Tulsa Downtown and Aloft Miami-Brickell. It also signed the Aloft New Orleans. Three more Aloft adopt use projects will be unveiled this year: Aloft Liverpool, Aloft Detroit and Aloft Tampa Downtown.
Starwood opened six luxury hotels in last year, including its first W ski retreat with the W Verbier, and its first W hotel in mainland China, W Guangzhou. Other luxury openings included The St. Regis Abu Dhabi, the brand’s second hotel in the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) and third hotel in the Middle East, and three properties under The Luxury Collection brand in Athens, Greece; Koh Samui, Thailand; and Cusco, Peru.
This year, the company will open 10 new luxury properties, four in countries that Starwood has no presence. Such openings will include W Bogota, the W brand’s entry into Colombia; Beijing and Chengdu, China; and The St. Regis Istanbul.
Six new Luxury Collection brand will debut in such destinations as Odessa, Ukraine; Ajman, U.A.E., Dalian and Hangzhou, China; and Broumana, Lebanon.
Starwood opened 30 hotels and signed 60 new properties for its Sheraton, Le Méridien and Westin brands. This year, Sheraton inaugurates service in Samoa, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan. It will return to Iraq with the debut of the Sheraton Dohuk Hotel. Starwood said the Sheraton brand is on schedule to open its 500th hotel in 2016.
Le Méridien’s expansion continues unabated. This year openings will take place in India, Bangladesh, and Thailand.
Westin will open its 200th hotel this year and its 20th in China.
Starwood said its mid-market brands -- Four Points by Sheraton, Aloft and Element -- have grown by almost 80 percent since 2008.
Follow me on Twitter @claudettecovey.
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