NEW YORK CITY Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc. plans to grow its New York City portfolio by 50% this year and open more hotels this year in the Big Apple than in any other city in the world. Starwood, which operates 12 hotels in New York City across six of its nine brands, expects to have 18 properties open in the city by year’s end, including the local debut of the Aloft and Element brands.
During the remainder of 2010, Starwood will open six new hotels in neighborhoods across Manhattan, Long Island City and Brooklyn, representing 25% of the new hotel rooms in New York City. Approximately a quarter of all new hotel rooms slated to debut in the city this year will be branded by Starwood. In May, Sheraton Brooklyn opened its doors, bringing the total number of new Starwood hotels to open in the Big Apple in 2010 to seven.
“While nearly 80% of our future hotel pipeline is outside of the United States, we have more hotels in New York City than any city in the world and we will open more hotels right here in our backyard than anywhere else, which speaks to New York’s enduring stature as the most global gateway city in the world,” says Starwood CEO Frits van Paasschen. “New York continues to be a beacon for international business and leisure travelers alike, and as we look to the future, we expect that as masses of travelers from China, India and other emerging markets begin to travel internationally, New York will be at the top of their list. We couldn’t be more bullish on New York near- or long-term.”
Starwood will debut its two newest lifestyle brands in New York City this year with the opening of Aloft hotels in Harlem and Brooklyn and its first Element hotel in Times Square.
Sheraton Opens 2 In NYC
New York City is proving to be fertile ground for Sheraton, Starwood’s largest and most global brand. Among the new hotels Sheraton is adding worldwide, two are in New York City. The summer opening of Sheraton Brooklyn New York Hotel will be followed by the opening of Sheraton Tribeca New York Hotel in September. Sheraton and its partners are also continuing to invest in upgrading its existing flagship hotel, Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers, which is slated to begin a US$100 million renovation later this year.
New York City remains the epicenter of Starwood’s W Hotels brand, with four currently open in the metro area, and the new W New York-Downtown Hotel & Residences opening this summer. W continues to evolve its existing landmark hotels, recently renovating W New York and W New York-Times Square.
Four Points by Sheraton continues to make inroads in New York City with the upcoming opening of Four Points by Sheraton Long Island City this summer. The brand made its debut six years ago in the Big Apple, where it expects to have a total of seven hotels by 2011.
Earlier this spring, Starwood relocated its Manhattan-based luxury and design-led brands from Chelsea to new headquarters on Varick Street at the junction of Soho and Tribeca, two of New York City’s most creative neighborhoods. The new design offices house the design and brand marketing teams across the company’s W, Le Méridien, St. Regis and Luxury Collection brands.
Starwood is on track to open more than 80 hotels in key markets around the world this year. By 2011, 75% of Starwood’s portfolio in New York City will be new or freshly renovated.
New York City occupancy continues to surpass last year’s levels. June occupancy averaged 86.4%, up 5% over last year at the same time. By 2012, New York City anticipates attracting 50 million visitors annually. New York City maintained its position as the world’s most popular tourist destination for international visitors last year, and emerged as the top choice for domestic travelers for the first time in nearly 30 years.