Around 950-hotel strong international hospitality chain, Starwood Hotels and Resorts, which has brands like Sheraton, Le Meridien and the Luxury Collection in India, is planning to bring its global luxury brands like St Regis and W here. The NYSE-listed company is currently in talks with developers to set up these hotel brands in the country.
“St Regis is the most expensive hotel brand in our portfolio. And we are looking at launching the brand in India. It is only a matter of finding the right partners,” said Don Elliot, regional vice-president, Starwood, India, Nepal and Bangladesh.
As far as its other brand W is concerned, which doesn’t have a presence in the country, Larry Malarkar, regional director, sales and marketing, India, Bangladesh and Maldives, said the company was finding interest among developers to bring the brand to India. However, the company is not bringing its Element brand to India, as it is positioned for longer stays.
Starwood Hotels, which has 21 operational properties in the country, will open 14 more hotels in India by 2011. The current year will see three more hotels from the group coming up, which will be under the Westin brand located in Pune, Hyderabad and Mumbai.
Currently, the group has eight Le Meridien, four Sheraton and one Westin and Four Points hotels each in the country. It also has seven Luxury
Collection hotels, for which it has an exclusive tie-up with ITC. The group?s 14 new properties will include three new Sheratons, six Westins and five hotels under the Aloft brand, which is its four-star brand.
