Starwood adds 11th brand - Design Hotels

Starwood has been a majority stakeholder in Berlin-based Design Hotels since 2011, and the extension of the deal between the two means a select number of Design Hotels will be bookable via Starwood’s portals - giving Starwood Preferred Guest members more access to one-of-a-kind hotels and the benefits and Starpoints they would receive at a Starwood hotel. Design Hotels - which will continue to operate independently from Starwood - serves as a global distribution, sales, and marketing affiliation for nearly 300 independently owned and operated hotels and resorts. “Starwood’s hotel guests and SPG members will see our new marketing partnership with Design Hotels

as an 11

 Starwood brand. It will create a special niche in our distinct portfolio of global brands and offer more options for travelers to stay with us around the world. These independent, design-forward hotels will benefit from Starwood’s powerful loyalty and distribution platforms. They will also serve to help us enhance owner and shareholder returns and attract more high-value guests to SPG who make up more than half of all Starwood stays,” said Adam Aron, Starwood’s interim CEO. The first SPG partner hotels include the Gramercy Park Hotel in New York City; Ten Bompas in Johannesburg, South Africa; the C-Hotel in Lake Como, Italy; Nira Montana in La Thuile, Italy; Nira Alpina in St. Moritz, Switzerland; and Kruisherenhotel Maastricht in the Netherlands. The ION Luxury Adventure Hotel in Iceland, the Tribe Hotel in Kenya, as well as Grupo Habita’s hotels in Mexico will join prior to the end of the year. In early 2016, member hotels of Design Hotels will join from major destinations, including London (Town Hall Hotel), Istanbul (Gezi Istanbul), Shanghai (The Waterhouse at South Bund), Athens (New Hotel), Singapore (Wanderlust), France (Les Bains), and South Korea (nest hotel). More member hotels of the Design Hotels portfolio are expected to sign up over the next 12 months.