Luxury Hotelier - November 2007 - (Page 8)

8| Inform Brand growth inspires Starwood’s luxury leader R oss Klein is a different kind of CEO. The president and chief experience officer for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide’s Luxury Brands Group isn’t a lifelong hotelier, but he has made it his mission to become one. As he has melded Starwood’s three luxury hotel brands—St. Regis, The Luxury Collection and W—under one umbrella, Mr. Klein knows that each must appeal to a different consumer. “It’s balancing the portfolio against the demand,” he says. “We must be sure that we have the brand characteristics of each brand clearly identified. The news for us is balancing the global distribution and making sure all three brands maintain their unique positions.” The global distribution is on its way: St. Regis has 12 properties open and 12 more on the way; The Luxury Collection consists of 69 ultra-deluxe hotels and has 18 in the pipeline; and W, the baby of the luxury group at 9 years old, has 21 hotels open and 25 more scheduled to open by 2010. “Affluence has changed,” Mr. Klein says. “Luxury includes things like philanthropy and how the brand acts in the world. There’s a certain amount of global responsibility that goes with it.” Starwood is incorporating that responsibility into a sustainability program that touches all eight of its brands. Klein distinguishes the three luxury brands: “W is at one end. It started as a category buster. It’s a design-directed hotel ranging from a business alternative to providing an experience for luxury. It represents the new generation of wealth. It’s pop culture, contemporary design and service to a deliverable that’s more relevant to how they grew up.” The brand plans to build on the success of its first Retreat & Spa, W Maldives, which opened in September 2006. It plans to open Retreat & Spa hotels in Vieques, Puerto Rico (2008); Koh Samui, Thailand (2008); and Verbier, Switzerland (2010). “After the success of the Maldives, our Retreat & Spa offering is going like gangbusters,” Mr. Klein says. “The Luxury Collection has truly international and global distribution. It’s an opportunity for global explorers. It has diverse properties that promise varied experience. The emphasis for The Luxury Collection is being unique in the marketplace. Guests can use it by passion points, by region, by type of experience or other travel enthusiasm such as spas, or you can slice it by grand hotels and palaces. The diversity of the portfolio is its strength. “We’re still filling in around the world and at the same time developing some exciting new-builds,” he says. W RETREAT & SPA-MALDIVES GRAND HOTEL, FLORENCE STARWOOD HOTELS & RESORTS WORLDWIDE “There is an excitement the team and I have for having the privilege of working for a brand like St. Regis that is based on privilege. The Astor family (who built The St. Regis, New York, in 1904) poured so much soul into it for it to entertain guests. When we started digging through the origins, we found it. It was to be an ultra-luxury clubhouse Luxury Hotelier | November 2007 | www.LuxuryHotelier.com http://www.LuxuryHotelier.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Luxury Hotelier - November 2007

Luxury Hotelier - November 2007 Contents Editor's Letter Publisher's Letter Inform: News and Notes Network: People Personalities: Traditional Innovator Insight: Smith Travel Research / The Bench Insight: Ypartnership Properties: A Front-Row Seat to Moscow Properties: Northern Star Inspire: Outdoor Showers Deliver: Wellness and Fitness Protocols: The Real Deal Insight: Cornell University Innovate: In-Room Technology Development: Global Project Pipeline Indulge: Coffee and Tea Insight: Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne Connect: Regional Marketing Update: IH/M&RS Luxury Product Collection Dossier: Davide Bertilaccio of The Rocco Forte Collection’s Le Richemond

Luxury Hotelier - November 2007

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.