Hotel Design- September 2008

news briefs Company-owned aloft, Element hotels open fter several years of anticipation, side-by-side aloft and Element hotels opened in Lexington, Mass., in July. The Element hotel is the first hotel open for the brand, while the aloft property joined three other hotels open in the U.S. and Canada. The hotels are owned and managed by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. The company also owns the aloft opening at the Philadelphia airport, which will be located with a Four Points by Sheraton and a Sheraton. The corporate-owned properties are a showcase for developers, says Denise Coll, president, North America for Starwood. Aloft and Element are cut from the PHOTOGRAPHY: STARWOOD HOTELS AND RESORTS same Starwood cloth, but feature very different concepts. Element is an extendedstay product, inspired by Westin, and is the first brand to require its hotels to pursue LEED certification. Aloft is transient-guest focused, inspired by W Hotels, and emphasizes the public space experience with its lobby and lobby bar, W xyz. Element has a natural feel with light streaming through a 16-foot window wall in the lobby, and a color palette of white, green and brown. Aloft is a kaleidoscope of color and neon and a circular front desk greeting guests. “We’re very excited to have the first brand to be fully LEED certified, but we GRAND OPENINGS The Element (top) and aloft (above) hotels also believe that ultimately it will be a that recently opened in Lexington, Mass. are both products of the requirement,” Coll says of the Element Starwood machine, but feature different concepts. Element targets brand. “From our perspective, we believe the extended-stay guest, while aloft is transient-guest focused. we’re simply ahead of the curve.” The pipeline for both brands remains strong, says Paul Sacco, senior vice-president of North America development for Starwood. This year, 18 alofts and 4 Elements will open. Next year, 40 to 50 alofts and 10 Elements are expected. The overall development pipeline, including executions, is still well over 200 deals, Sacco says. “I think the development and travel communities expected Starwood to do something truly innovative and groundbreaking, and being all new construction brands has helped us do that,” he says. —Heather Gunter A PHOTOGRAPHY: HEATHER GUNTER Calendar of industry events HD BOUTIQUE September 17-18 Miami Beach, Fla. www.hdboutique.com SOUTH FLORIDA NEWH BUBBLE BASH September 18 Miami Beach, Fla. www.newh.org SPATEC NORTH AMERICA September 25-28 Braselton, Ga. www.spatecna.com GREEN + DESIGN CONFERENCE & EXPO October 2-3 Atlanta www.greendesignexpo.com RUSSIA & CIS HOTEL INVESTMENT CONFERENCE October 21-22 Moscow, Russia www.russiacisconference.com THE SLEEP EVENT EXHIBITION November 4-5 London www.thesleepevent.com INTERNATIONAL HOTEL/MOTEL & RESTAURANT SHOW November 8-11 New York www.ihmrs.com Continued on next page 10 Hotel Design | SEPTEMBER 2008 http://www.hdboutique.com http://www.newh.org http://www.spatecna.com http://www.greendesignexpo.com http://www.russia-cisconference.com http://www.russia-cisconference.com http://www.thesleepevent.com http://www.ihmrs.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Hotel Design- September 2008

Hotel Design - September 2008 Contents First Word Design Pulse News Briefs Boho Chic in South Beach Bath Trends Waterworks Photography 101 Illuminations First Looks Caribbean Cool Updating History On the Wall Call for Entries Technology Trendlines Form & Function Designer Viewpoint Under the Texan Sun Brand Outlook Call for Submissions Bringing Outside In Facelifts Portfolio People Watch Good Life Up Close & Personal Source List Ad Index Signature Projects

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.