STAMFORD, Conn.--Oct. 12, 2012-- Today Starwood
Hotels & Resorts Worldwide,
Inc. (NYSE:HOT) and Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:HST) announce
the grand opening of The Westin New York Grand Central. The new hotel
opens in the former New York Helmsley Hotel after the completion of a
$75 million renovation. The brand’s second Manhattan
hotel features a complete redesign of the hotel’s interior including
774 spacious guest rooms equipped with Westin’s signature amenities,
more than 12,000 square feet of meeting space with the latest
technology, a 3,000-square-foot WestinWORKOUT® fitness studio and
the
upcoming addition of THE LCL: Bar & Kitchen, NYC, the first bar and
food concept fromGerber Group in a Westin property. Tonight, as part of
the Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) global music program On Tour with
SPG: Hear the Music, See the World, Ben Folds Five will offer a private
performance for SPG members.
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg
celebrating the grand opening of the Westin New York Grand Central
with Brian Povinelli, Global Brand Leader for Westin Hotels and the
hotel's General Manager Ed Maynard.
(Photo: Business Wire)
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The Westin New York
Grand Central joins its sister property, The Westin
New York at Times Square, as a
business epicenter in midtown Manhattan. Located just blocks away from
both Grand Central Terminal and the United
Nations, the hotel maintains its New York City
landmark status while
providing guests the premium Westin experience with signature amenities
and services designed to inspire well-being in a sophisticated and
elegant setting.
“We have greatly anticipated the opening of The Westin
New York Grand Central as it marks a new era for this
historic hotel and its neighborhood, said Brian Povinelli,
Global Brand Leader, Westin Hotels & Resorts. “Our new
landmark property will become a hub for both business and leisure
travelers due to its prime location and the draw of the signature
Westin experience, designed to provide our guests a bit of well-being
in the center of bustling New York City.”
"This is a great day for Westin Hotels and Starwood - some of
the biggest names in our city's growing hospitality industry," said
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who cut the ribbon today
to open The Westin New York Grand Central. "Even
when New York City
was struggling to recover from the last national recession, Starwood
was very bullish about our future. Their investments here have turned
out to be smart ones, because a record number of tourists are flocking
to New York City,
and now this renovation gives them one more reason to visit."
Eco-Friendly Guestrooms Give Heavenly
Experience
Each of the 774, 300+ square-foot guestrooms, including 11
one-bedroom suites and one three-bedroom presidential suite, maintain
the highest standards of environmental responsibility with the brand’s
signature eco-friendly materials such as energy-conserving LED and CFL lights, water conserving
low flow plumbing and recycle-able carpet pads, low VOC finishes for
casegoods and GreenGuard certified solar shades. Each guestroom is also
equipped with Westin’s luxurious amenities including the coveted
Heavenly Bed. The revamped design scheme includes calming, tonal colors
that create a soothing environment, allowing guests to leave feeling
better than when they arrived.
Redefining the Traditional
Hotel Lobby Bar and Hotel Restaurant
The renovation also extended the hotel’s lobby to 42nd
street to include THE LCL: Bar & Kitchen, NYC, coming soon. Once
open, THE LCL: Bar & Kitchen, NYC, will be the first bar and food
concept in a Westin property from leading nightlife proprietor Gerber
Group and will redefine the traditional hotel lobby bar and
restaurant. Located on the ground floor of the hotel, THE LCL will
offer an extensive selection of local small-batch spirits, regionally
brewed craft beers, as well as, organic, sustainable and biodynamic
wines. The signature and seasonal cocktail selections will feature
house-made infusions and market fresh ingredients. THE LCL will also
offer a kicked up comfort food menu from sunrise to well after sunset.
The menu will feature locally sourced items such as Roasted Beets and
Coach Farm Chevre Cheese Salad, LCL Flame Grilled LaFrieda Burger and
Great New York Cheddar Cheese and Mac. In addition to locally sourced
food, THE LCL will also serve Stumptown Coffee, Organic
Avenue juices and fresh grab-and-go options in the morning
for guests on the move.
State-of-the-Art Meeting Space
Conveniently located in the Midtown East neighborhood, the
hotel is positioned to become a business epicenter. With more than
12,000 square feet of renovated meeting and event space, including four
new break-out rooms and an expanded 4,100 square-foot ballroom with
sweeping city views, the hotel is an ideal host for everything from
intimate business affairs to large-scale corporate meetings
accommodating up to 450 guests. In addition, all rooms have new
carpeting and lighting, while preserving some of the hotel’s historic
elements including wood paneling and New York photography from the hotel’s
original decoration.
As part of the overhaul, all event spaces are now equipped
with teleconferencing capabilities, fiber optics and some of the
highest bandwidth in Manhattan. The hotel’s history and close
proximity to Grand Central is also reflected in the meeting room names,
which include a space entitled “Track 61,” the name of the mysterious
once-secret train platform located in Grand Central Terminal.
New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority
(MTA) has approved and licensed the use of “Grand Central” for The Westin
New York Grand Central. For more information on Westin
Hotels & Resorts, please visit www.westin.com,
Facebook
or follow Westin on Twitter.
SPG Members earn unparalleled access to experiences such the Ben
Folds Five concert – and so much more – at SPG.com/moments.
About Westin Hotels & Resorts
Westin Hotels & Resorts offers innovative programs
that transform every aspect of a stay into a revitalizing experience.
All Westin signature services – like the Heavenly Bed, delicious
SuperFoods and WestinWORKOUT studio – have been designed with the
guests’ well-being in mind. Westin hotels,
with more than 190
hotels and resorts in nearly 40 countries and territories, is owned by
Starwood Hotels & Resorts
Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT).
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.
is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with
1,112 properties in nearly 100 countries and 154,000 employees at its
owned and managed properties. Starwood is a fully integrated owner,
operator and franchisor of hotels, resorts and residences with the
following internationally renowned brands: St. Regis
®,
The Luxury Collection
®, W
®, Westin
®,
Le Méridien
®, Sheraton
®, Four
Points
® by Sheraton, Aloft
®, and Element
SM.
The Company boasts one of the industry’s leading loyalty programs,
Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG), allowing members to earn and redeem
points for room stays, room upgrades and flights, with no blackout
dates. Starwood also owns
Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc.,
a premier provider of world-class vacation experiences through
villa-style resorts and privileged access to Starwood brands. For more
information, please visit
www.westin.com
About Host Hotels & Resorts
Host Hotels &
Resorts, Inc. is an
S&P 500 and Fortune 500
company and is the largest lodging real estate investment trust and one
of the largest owners of luxury and upper-upscale hotels. The Company
currently owns 104 properties in
the United States and 16 properties
internationally totaling approximately 65,000 rooms. The Company also
holds non-controlling interests in a joint venture in
Europe that owns 14
hotels with approximately 4,400 rooms and a joint venture in
Asia that owns one hotel
with approximately 300 rooms in
Australia and a minority interest in
seven hotels with approximately 1,750 rooms in
India, two of which
recently opened in
Bangalore
and five that are in various stages of development in two cities.
Guided by a disciplined approach to capital allocation and aggressive
asset management, the Company partners with premium brands in the
operation of properties in over 50 major markets worldwide. For
additional information, please visit the Company’s website at
www.hosthotels.com.
About Starwood Preferred Guest
Starwood Preferred Guest® (SPG®) is an innovative,
award-winning frequent traveler program that unites each of Starwood’s
9 distinctive hotel brands and includes more luxury hotels in more
destinations around the world. SPG reinvented the hospitality loyalty
landscape when it launched in 1999 with its breakthrough policy of no
blackout dates, and over the years has continued its tradition of
innovation with enhancements such as Cash + Points, SPG Moments
SM,
and most recently Your24
TM and SPG Lifetime
TM. In
addition to Free Night Awards at over 1,100 hotels and resorts and
Award Flights on over 350 major airlines without blackout dates, the
Starpoints ® that members earn through SPG can be redeemed for
access like to no other to experiences in music, sports and the arts
through SPG Moments. SPG also has an ongoing commitment to digital
innovation to meet the needs of today’s connected global traveler –
from the SPG app for iPhone that utilizes state-aware technology to
create a more personalized hotel stay to Starwood’s Best Rate Guarantee
on SPG.com, to SPG’s integration within various social media platforms.
Offerings such as these have helped SPG build a passionate member base
among the world’s most frequent travelers. Learn more at
spg.com
and
spg.com/moments
and connect with us on
facebook.com/spg,
twitter.com/spg,
foursquare.com/spg,
pinterest.com/spglife, and
youtube.com/spg.
About Gerber Group
Gerber Group – known as the most influential nightlife
proprietor in the world – encompasses 23 iconic venues internationally
under such brands as The Whiskey, Whiskey Blue, Living Room and
Stone
Rose Lounge. Since opening its first bar, The Whiskey, at New
York City’s
Paramount Hotel, the extraordinary
successes of the group’s brands have established them as pre-eminent
tastemakers, with an uncanny ability to create cool, chic and classic
bars with modern glamour.
Rande Gerber founded
Gerber
Group in 1991, in which his brother
Scott Gerber
was one of the original investors. Today,
Scott Gerber
manages the company and its full portfolio of properties.
Gerber
Group is positioned to continue as the preferred partner to
Starwood Hotels & Resorts,
W Hotels Worldwide,
Strategic Hotels & Resorts,
Related
Companies, Westin Hotels &
Resorts and Noble Investment
Group. For additional information about
Gerber Group
and its complete portfolio of properties, please visit
www.GerberBars.com.
(Note: This press release
contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal
securities regulations. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees
of future performance or events and involve risks and uncertainties and
other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ
materially from those anticipated at the time the forward-looking
statements are made. These risks and uncertainties are presented in
detail in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Although we believe the expectations reflected in such forward-looking
statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, we can give no
assurance that our expectations will be attained or that results and
events will not materially differ. We undertake no obligation to
publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise.)