Starwood to Open Six Hotels in New York Before Year End

Starwood Hotels and Resorts is to grow its New York City portfolio by 50% this year and open more hotels in New York in 2010 than any other city in the world.

Today, Starwood operates 12 hotels in the Big Apple across six of its nine brands. The company’s NYC boom will result in 18 hotels including the debut of Starwood’s two newest brands in Manhattan – Aloft and Element.

During the remainder of 2010, Starwood will open six new hotels in neighborhoods across Manhattan, as well as in Long Island City and Brooklyn, representing 25% of the new hotel rooms in New York City - one out of four new hotel rooms slated to debut in the city this year will be branded Starwood. In May, the Sheraton Brooklyn opened its doors – bringing the total number of new Starwood hotels to open in the Big Apple in 2010 to seven. The company’s aggressive growth will bring 1,712 new hotel rooms and more than 500 new jobs to New York City.

Starwood is on track to open more than 80 hotels in key markets around the world this year.

“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,” said Frits van Paasschen, CEO of Starwood Hotels and Resorts. “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.”

Over the past several months, NYC occupancy has continued to surpass last year’s levels: June occupancy averaged 86.4%, up 5% over last year at the same time. In addition, 45.25 million tourists visited in 2009, exceeding expectations by 7%. By 2012, New York City anticipates attracting 50 million visitors annually and there is a need for new hotels to meet this demand.

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