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Imagining Starwood Hotels future with Jeff Higley with an expansion of Choice and Carlson brands

Starwood Hotels rumors have been in the trade news the past few months with speculation the hotel chain may be bought out by IHG or Wyndham.

Jeff Higley, editorial director of Hotel News Now, has a different solution.  Starwood Hotels brands are purchased by different hotel companies to beef up their brand segments. There are ideas here that I have not seen in previous stories or from the miles and points bloggers.

Hotel News Now – Who should get Starwood’s brands? (August 3, 2015)

Barry Sternlicht, CEO of Starwood Capital Group and former CEO of Starwood Hotels, stated the price of Starwood Hotels is probably too high for the company to be bought out by another hotel chain.

Jeff Higley postulates Sternlicht could tacquire the high-end brands of Starwood Hotels with St. Regis, W Hotels and the Luxury Collection. Perhaps Aloft too.

Westin and Element brands go to Choice Hotels as upper upscale properties to beef up the higher end market segment of Choice Hotels.

Sheraton is bought by Chinese hotel company Plateno-Jin Jang to provide a strong hotel base for USA and Europe. There are around 5,000 Sheraton Hotels in the pipeline for China. Well, at least 50 in the works. Search Starwood Hotels for China and you find a list of 102 Sheraton hotels with 37 new Sheraton Hotels and opening dates. Sheraton is currently the largest Starwood Hotels brand with 440 properties worldwide.

One of the most interesting suggestions is Four Points is acquired by Red Lion Hotels, a small western states hotel brand concentrated in the Pacific Northwest region. Red Lion has a generous hotel loyalty program.

Carlson Rezidor Group acquires Le Meridien to bolster its upper upscale hotel branding. Or perhaps Accor Hotels brings Le Meridien back to the French.

All speculation like other Starwood Hotels acquisition stories, but quite a different picture than the acquisition of Starwood by IHG and Wyndham stories that have appeared in the news this year.

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4 Comments

  • Captain Kirk August 17, 2015

    If the Westin brand were to be bought out by Choice, that would be terrible. Choice hotels’ portfolio is primarily mid level and budget brands. Their “upscale” brand footprint is tiny and they don’t have the corporate and employee culture to run and expand the Westin brand. I really like Westin properties and I think if they were to be purchased would in 5 years look like beat up Quality Inns.

  • Ric Garrido August 17, 2015

    The Choice Hotels absence in the upscale hotel market is precisely why Westin is a good fit. Employees come with the hotel. Hotel brands change all the time from one chain to another. I don’t see employee culture as an issue. Corporate culture changes are harder to anticipate.

  • Jay August 17, 2015

    Like to see Hyatt get something too?..

  • Ric August 17, 2015

    Oh great – there goes my Lifetime Platinum status !

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