Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. was one of the largest companies that owned, operated, franchised and managed hotels, resorts, spas, residences, and vacation ownership properties. Starwood was founded in 1969 as a real estate investment trust named Hotel Investors Trust.[2] In 1995, it was acquired and reorganized by Barry Sternlicht, who was its chairman until 2005 and founder of the Starwood Capital Group.[1][3][4] Starwood had 11 brands and owned, managed, or franchised 1,297 properties comprising 370,000 hotel rooms in approximately 100 countries.[1] It was acquired by Marriott International in 2016.[5][6][7]
History
Pre-Sternlicht era
Under Starwood Capital Group
Starwood Hotels and Resorts was originally formed by the real estate investment firm Starwood Capital to take advantage of a tax break; at the time the company was known as Starwood Lodging.[8] Initially, Starwood Lodging owned a number of hotels throughout North America, all under different brand names. The Westin Hotel Company was purchased in 1994 from Aoki Corporation of Japan. Starwood acquired the Sheraton, Four Points by Sheraton, and The Luxury Collection brands from ITT Sheraton in 1998.
In 1999, Starwood launched their "W" Hotels brand.[9] In September 2005, Starwood announced the launch of Aloft, a new hotel brand based on W. Aloft Hotels catered toward
Brands
Westin
Westin Hotels & Resorts was Starwood's largest upscale hotel and resorts brand. It was the oldest brand within Starwood, founded as Western Hotels in 1930, renamed Western International Hotels in 1963, and then Westin Hotels in 1981. The chain was acquired by Starwood in 1997.[19]
Sheraton
Sheraton Hotels and Resorts was Starwood's flagship brand, providing luxury hotel and resort accommodation. It began operating in 1937 and was sold to Starwood in 1998 by ITT Inc. Also under the Sheraton brand are seven vacation ownership properties.
The Luxury Collection
The Luxury Collection brand began on January 13, 1992, when ITC Sheraton designated 28 of its premier hotels and 33 of the Sheraton Towers, the luxury "hotel-within-a-hotel" facilities located within Sheraton's largest and most exclusive hotels, as the ITT Sheraton Luxury Collection.
Business partnerships and customer programs
Starwood had a credit card partnership with American Express, which also took over Starwood's former partnership with MBNA Canada Bank in Canada in 2010.[36][37]
The Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) program was merged with Marriott's loyalty program on August 18, 2018.[38]
Starwood Preferred Guest also had a partnership with 32 airlines, allowing guests to redeem their points for flights under the "SPG Flights" program. SPG had a "crossover rewards" program with Delta Air Lines, offering Medallion elite members certain elite benefits at Starwood Group hotels and offering certain Medallion elite benefits to SPG Platinum Preferred Guest members. The SPG program had over 21 million members.[39][40]
References
- Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. 2015 Form 10-K Annual Report U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission^
- P. E. I. Staff. Hotel Investors Trust transformed PERE, 23 January 2013^
- Barry Sternlicht CNBC, June 15, 2017