Starwood Hotels to open 5 Westin, 3 Le Meridien properties by 2015

International hospitality major Starwood Hotels and Resorts plans to open eight new properties under its brands — Westin and Le Meridien — by end of 2015 in India as part of its expansion strategy.

“We plan to open 8 hotels in India by 2015. Five hotels will be under the Westin brand while three will be Le Meridien,” Starwood Hotels and Resorts, Senior Vice President and Global Brand Leader (Westin and Le Meridien ) Brian Povinelli told PTI.

The three new Le Meridien properties will be at Noida, Mahabaleshwar and Chennai east coast with the latter two being developed as resorts, he added.

“The Westin properties will be at Bekal, Khandala, Jaipur, Kolkata and Noida. Bekal and Khandala will be resorts,” Povinelli said.

Both Westin and Le Meridien brands operate in luxury and upscale full-service hotels, resorts and residences segment.

The company currently has seven Le Meridien and six Westin properties in the country.

On being asked about the investments the company will be making for expansion, Povinelli said: “As we mainly follow the management contract and franchise model and don’t own the properties, our investments will be in people, in marketing, in training, in technology and in infrastructure.”

Starwood currently operates 36 hotels in India under six out of its nine global brands. These include hotels under the Luxury Collection, Sheraton, Westin, Le Meridien, Four Points by Sheraton and Aloft brands.

Starwood Hotels and Resorts manages around 1,134 properties in over 100 countries under nine brands —— St Regis, The Luxury Collection, W, Le Meridien, Sheraton, Westin, Four Points by Sheraton, Aloft and Element.

COMMENT NOW