STAMFORD, Conn--Jan. 22, 2013--
From the 2013 American Lodging Investment Summit in Los Angeles,
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT) announced
today that it opened 23 hotels in North America in 2012 and signed more
new deals than in the previous two years, including 21 conversions.
Looking ahead to 2013, Starwood anticipates its strongest year of
openings in North America since before the global economic crisis with
28 scheduled openings. Conversions will continue to fuel growth with
in-the-year conversions expected to result in additional new hotel
openings this year.
“North America remains our largest market with 576 hotels and saw more
hotels signed in 2012 than any other region in our vast network,” said
Simon Turner, President of Global Development. “We have opened over 135
new hotels in North America since the global economic crisis and expect
pent up demand and limited new supply to continue to drive our growth
in 2013.”
“There are a number of positive trends in the North American
hospitality market and we expect more than one-third of Starwood’s
hotel openings around the world to be in the U.S. and Canada in 2013,”
said Allison Reid, Senior Vice President of North America Development,
Starwood. “Our strong brands, global scale and presence, powerful
systems and growing base of loyal customers continue to set Starwood
apart from our competition. We are seeing increased interest among
owners in initiating new hotels with Starwood especially around
conversions.”
Powered by Four Points by
Sheraton and Aloft, Mid-Market Brands See Banner Year Ahead
Starwood’s “Specialty Select” or Mid-Market brands, Four Points by
Sheraton, Aloft and Element, will continue charging across North
America in 2013. Fast-growing Four Points by Sheraton, with its popular
positioning around comfort, style, and affordability, is expected to
surpass 120 hotels in North America and 190 globally in 2013. Twelve
openings in key markets will include hotels in Manhattan (KS), San
Jose/Silicon Valley (CA), Columbus (OH), Richmond Airport (VA), Kansas
City (MO), Charleston (WV), Louisville (KY) and Jacksonville (FL). In
Canada, Four Points by Sheraton will debut in Kelowna, Nisku,
Edmunston, and Regina. Over the past five years, the Four Points by
Sheraton portfolio has surged by 15% in North America and the brand is
now Starwood’s third largest with the second-biggest global pipeline.
Aloft, Starwood’s sizzling “style at a steal” brand, continues
conquering markets wherever it plants a flag. This year, the brand will
open its milestone 50th property in North America and 75th globally –
and is on track to open nearly three times as many rooms this year as
in 2012. Over the past three years, Aloft has grown its global
portfolio by 67%, and expects to expand by another 25% in 2013. Aloft
also signed eight deals in North America and an additional 17 globally
during 2012 – the highest number since 2008. Conversions and
adaptive-reuse projects continue helping Aloft meet demand from
partners and developers to bring more properties online quicker.
Conversions opening in 2013 include Aloft Tucson and Aloft Calgary
University. Aloft opened two conversion projects in 2012: Aloft San
Francisco Airport, its first internal conversion, and Aloft Nashville
West End.
Element, Starwood’s industry-leading “stylish and sustainable” brand,
has built a base of fiercely loyal fans and will open its first
property outside the U.S. this year with Element Vaughan Southeast in
Ontario, Canada, to be followed by the debut of the brand in Europe in
2014.
Upper Upscale and Luxury Brands
Enjoy Strong Position and Sustained Growth
Starwood’s stronger-than-ever upper-upscale brands, Le Méridien,
Westin and Sheraton, will also see sustained North America expansion in
2013. After significant brand investment and transformation, Le
Méridien is experiencing strong growth momentum, with eight new
hotel openings globally slated for 2013. Conversions continue to serve
as a growth opportunity for Le Méridien, with recent conversion
hotels having opened in Mexico City and Arlington, Virginia.
Westin, whose singular positioning around wellness continues powering
global growth, will open four hotels in 2013 in the U.S.: The Westin
Birmingham, The Westin San Jose, The Westin Sacramento, and The Westin
Houston Downtown – the 4th Westin in that city. And Sheraton, one of
the hotel industry’s most revered brands and Starwood’s largest brand
in North America, boasts its strongest portfolio in its history. In
2012, Sheraton announced that the brand will enter the Dominican
Republic in 2014 with the Sheraton Santo Domingo and the brand will
also debut this year at Pittsburgh Airport. The company also recently
announced that a new boutique hotel affiliated with the Sheraton brand
will be developed adjacent to Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs.
Starwood continues to have, and build on, one of the strongest North
America luxury portfolios in the industry with its St. Regis, The
Luxury Collection, and W Hotels brands. In 2012, the company signed The
St. Anthony, A Luxury Collection Hotel, San Antonio – an external
conversion set to open in 2014 as the second Luxury Collection property
in Texas. With 85 hotels in nearly 30 countries, The Luxury Collection
remains Starwood’s largest luxury brand, and with its appeal to
independent hotel owners it continues to grow, increasing its global
footprint by 70% since 2007. Starwood also celebrated the landmark
opening of The St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort in 2012. W Hotels and its
ownership groups have invested more than $100 million in updating the
North American W portfolio, including the recent completion of
renovations at W New Orleans – French Quarter, W San Diego, W Seattle,
W San Francisco, and W New York – Union Square.
About Starwood Hotels &
Resorts Worldwide, Inc.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading
hotel and leisure companies in the world with 1,134 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 ElementSM.
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.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.)