PANAMA CITY, Panama--Sep.
12, 2012-- W Hotels Worldwide today announced it has signed an
agreement with Evolution Tower Corp, a joint venture
between F & F Properties and EFC Group Inc.,
to debut the W Hotels brand in Central America. Slated to open in early
2016, W Panama
will be part of the 50-floor Evolution Tower, a mixed-use building,
including premium office space, located in the heart of the city’s
financial district. W
Panama will be built on Calle 50, just steps away from Uruguay
Street, which is known as the Zona Rosa of Panama and is
bustling with stylish restaurants and nightclubs.
“Panama continues to see strong growth in both business and
tourism development given its strategic location between North and South America
and ease of access from around the world,” said Osvaldo
Librizzi, Co-President of the Americas, Starwood Hotels & Resorts. “We are excited
to partner with Evolution Tower Corp, who has a strong
presence in high-end construction and iconic developments. We are
confident that this first W in Central America will become a new landmark
in the city.”
“As part of Starwood’s overall growth strategy, we continue to
focus on expanding our nine leading brands into vibrant cities around
the world, such as Panama City,” said Ricardo Suarez,
Vice President of Latin America Acquisitions and Development for Starwood Hotels & Resorts.
“This hotel will mark our ninth in Panama, and we are very pleased to add
a new brand to Starwood’s growing presence in the region.”
“It has been a dream of ours to bring the W brand to a growing
cosmopolitan city such as Panama,” said Saul Faskha, President, Evolution
Tower Corp. “We are very excited to be working on this new
project.”
In a perfect combination of sophistication and style, W Panama will
reveal surprising elements layer by layer throughout the hotel.
Panamanian architect Saul Bassan has created an
exclusive design façade for the building, and Krause &
Sawyer have been brought on board to lead interior design work for the
hotel.
“As W Hotels continues to transform into a global design
powerhouse, we are proud to bring W to Central America,” said Vincent
Gillet, Global Brand Leader, W Hotels and Le
Méridien. “W Panama, set in one of the capital city’s premier
districts, will offer a completely new and distinctive experience to
the hotel market in Panama City, providing a stylish escape and
innovative design for both guests and locals alike.”
W Panama
will offer a fully integrated, contemporary lifestyle experience,
including 203 stylish guest rooms, with 24 suites, three Wow suites,
and one Extreme Wow suite (the W brand’s take on the Presidential
Suite), two signature restaurants, the W Living Room
experience (reinterpretation of the traditional hotel lobby),
destination nightclub, WET pool deck, spa and 8,400 square foot WORKOUT
fitness facility.
An ideal venue, W Panama will feature more than 21,900
square feet of meeting and events space, including a Great
Room and six meeting rooms. Guests will also be treated to
the W brand’s iconic Whatever/Whenever service philosophy, providing
guests with whatever they want, whenever they want it.
With excellent access to the airport as well as to other areas
of interest within the city, the planned Evolution Tower will provide
an impressive impact on the Panama City skyline, offering superb views
of the city, and on high floors, the bay and Panama Canal.
W Panama
will mark Starwood’s ninth hotel in Panama.
For more information, please visit www.whotels.com
or www.facebook.com/whotels.
Follow @WHotels on Twitter.
About W Hotels Worldwide
W Hotels is a contemporary, design-led lifestyle brand and the industry
innovator with 42 hotels and retreats, including 14 W-branded
residences, in the most vibrant cities and exotic destinations around
the world. Inspiring, iconic, innovative and influential, W Hotels
provides the ultimate in insider access, offering a unique mix of
cutting-edge design and passions around fashion, music and
entertainment. W Hotels offers a holistic lifestyle experience that is
integrated into the brand’s sensibility through contemporary restaurant
concepts, glamorous entertainment experiences, stylish retail concepts,
signature spas and inspiring residences. With more than 12 years of
proven success, W Hotels is on track to reach more than 50 hotels by
the end of 2012. W Hotels have been announced for
Guangzhou,
Milan,
Shanghai,
Singapore,
Abu Dhabi,
Dubai,
Bangkok, Muscat,
Mumbai, and
Santa Fe,
Mexico, while
upcoming W Retreats include Verbier and Mexico’s Riviera Maya. For more
information, visit
www.whotels.com.
To live the W Hotels lifestyle 24/7/365, visit
www.wresidences.com.
About Starwood Hotels &
Resorts
Starwood Hotels &
Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:HOT) is one of the leading hotel
and leisure companies in the world with 1,112 properties in 100
countries and territories with 154,000 employees at its owned and
managed properties. Starwood Hotels is a fully integrated owner,
operator and franchisor of hotels, resorts and residences with the
following internationally renowned brands: St. Regis(R), The Luxury
Collection(R), W(R), Westin(R), Le Méridien(R), Sheraton(R),
Four Points(R) by Sheraton, and the recently launched Aloft(R), and
Element
SM. Starwood Hotels also owns
Starwood
Vacation Ownership, Inc., one of the premier developers and
operators of high quality vacation interval ownership resorts. For more
information, please visit
www.starwoodhotels.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.)