Following the findings of its recent think tank, the hotel group has released fulsome descriptions of what each of its many brands offers. Jonathan Hart scans the literature Which global hotel chain you choose, if that is your prerogative within company travel policy, ultimately may boil down to a dozen or more individual characteristics beyond simply budget or convenience of location. Loyalty points or standardised fixtures, for example. The comfort of the signature beds; quality of bathrooms; choice of restaurants or personality of staff. The other side of the coin is how hotel companies like to be perceived by business travellers and the effort and expense injected into conceptualising, promising or promoting a certain lifestyle or passion over and above basic bed and board. As well as ensuring its delivery everywhere, unfettered by the sometimes harsh everyday complications of locality or supply.
In competitive global hotel ownership, leasing, management or franchising, no less than a portfolio of brands to appeal to every aspiration and price sector is the general strategic aim among major players today.
With some 850 hotels in 95 countries, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide is little different in this respect, other than it is not a banner name itself but parent to a broad selection of brands, each with its clutch of signature items, demanding specific identities and precise positioning in the global marketplace.
Hence Starwood's recent internal brainstorming and launch this summer of "new signature service elements created in each brand's voice". Liberally sprinkled with the jargon of the glowing, glossy, savvy and sassy, Starwood has effectively raised the expectancy barrier of smooth travelling and must now be keeping its corporate fingers crossed it can deliver on the promises.
No longer, according to Starwood, do you just stay at a Sheraton, a 400+-strong brand founded as long ago as 1937 and absorbed by the group in 1998. Instead guests "belong in a warm, comforting workplace that's second to none", with new multimedia lobby hubs where you can grab a coffee, watch TV or play a game.
"Honest, uncomplicated comfort", along with free high-speed Internet access and bottled water are the hallmarks for "self-sufficient" travellers at budget-led Four Points by Sheraton, almost 140-strong and spawning a series of fresh interior design packages, plus more than 30 new units over the next year alone, including one in Zurich in the spring.
At the other end of the scale, staying at a lavish St. Regis – 12 up and running and a further 12 under development – means "the certainty of being in the best place", an address for the "uncompromising, bespoke and seductive". In similar vein, The Luxury Collection of 50+ hotels focuses on the "celebrated and exceptional, indigenous and unique".
W is the "flirty, insider escape" brand of soon-to-be 20 properties, offering you "unique experiences around the warmth of cool, where wishes are fulfilled through the signature Whatever/Whenever programme". The fledgling Aloft brand, described as a vision of W and darling of the development community, is the "refreshing oasis in the boring desert of select-service hotels", with 500 units planned by 2012, the first scheduled to open next year in the US. The 121-strong Westin chain is now smoke-free throughout and introducing a new "sensory welcome of white tea scent, signature music and lighting, refreshing towels and an elixir". Project ESW, with up to 150 units schemed for the next five years, is the new extended-stay offshoot brand of Westin, providing an "holistic" approach to life on the road.
And finally, there's Le Meridien, with up to 200 properties, purchased by Starwood last year for transplanting in the US. Here, the core values are European "chic and cultured", where an experience will be "curated (sic) for you, engaging you in a meaningful way – bringing alive its passion points of music, film, art, photography, food, design, architecture and fashion". But perhaps you knew that already.
Executive Deals Executive Floors, Rooms and Packages: these are offered by each of the Starwood brands. Sheraton, for example, operates an Airports Hotel package at key gateways, featuring food to combat the effects of jetlag (Europe); 50% discounts on meeting rooms; personal Transit Survival Kit and extended laundry service. Westin (North America and Asia) provides Guest Office rooms that double as workstations and late checkout for US$20 per night above the standard room rate
Loyalty programme: Starwood Preferred Guest, with 22 million members, includes fast-earning bonus point systems with easily redeemable free nights at all group hotels (with no blackout dates) or free flights with 25 partner airlines, plus other benefits. www.SPG.com
Website: www.starwoodhotels.com
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