Starwood Expands in Three Regions

BRUSSELS—Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide has made nearly simultaneous announcements of expansion in three regions around the globe: Europe, Asia and South America, the latter with the Costa Rica debut of the W hotel brand. The largest of the three moves is the addition of four hotels to Starwood's Luxury Collection in Italy, Turkey, the Czech Republic and Serbia.

With the addition of Augustine in Prague; Caresse Resort & Spa in Bodrum, Turkey; Falisia Resort & Spa in Portopiccolo, Italy; and Grand Hotel River Park in Bratislava to the portfolio, the Luxury Collection will encompass more than 100 hotels globally by the end of this year.  Augustine opened as a Luxury Collection hotel on June 30, followed a day later by Caresse. Falisia is scheduled to follow on July 18 and Grand Hotel River Park is slated for an August 1 debut.

“We continue to see new-build opportunities in the region, such as Caresse and Falisia, which are part of multi-unit developments,” says Bart Carnahan, SVP for acquisition & development in the EMEA region. “At the same time, conversions remain a key part of our growth strategy, enabling us to add established hotels, such as Augustine and Grand Hotel River Park, into the Starwood system. With these new additions to the Luxury Collection, the brand will boast 43 unique hotels and resorts in Europe.”

Wednesday is seeing the opening of the Sheraton Hyderabad Hotel, a newly renovated property owned by SAMHI Hotels (Ahmedabad) Private Ltd. It's the 44th Starwood hotel in India, the third Starwood hotel in the south-central Indian city of Hyderabad and the third Sheraton in India.

On Tuesday, Starwood announced its agreement with Desarrollos Hoteleros Guanacaste S.A. (DHG) to develop the W Costa Rica – Reserva Conchal in Playa conchal. Scheduled to open four years from now, the property will be the first beachside W in the region.

As Starwood pursues “aggressive expansion” in Latin America, the Costa Rica property is “an exciting addition to our pipeline,” says Jorge Giannattasio, SVP and chief of the company's Latin America operations. “Following the recent successful opening of W Bogota, we are eager to premiere the iconic W brand in new countries in the region and look forward to bringing the brand to Panama in 2017, followed by Costa Rica in 2019.”