UPDATED 1/21/08 - It was pointed out to me today that National Harbor is an actual City, and Gaylord’s development is only a small portion of it, there are an additional 6 hotel scheduled to open within National Harbor.. I have updated this post to reflect that. Sorry for any misunderstanding. 

I frequently check Starwood Hotels & Resorts “New Hotel” link at the bottom of www.starwoodhotels.com to see if there are any new notable hotels opening in Starwood’s portfolio. Usually this page doesn’t give too many hints or previously unknown information but not only that, it’s usually outdated and except for it being organized by country – it has absolutely no other organization to it – two Florida hotels may be next to a hotel in Washington State, which is next to a hotel scheduled to open in Colorado – 8 months ago.

A few weeks back, I checked the page, and to my surprise Starwood greatly improved its presentation – and provided some information on locations that I was previously unaware of, it finally includes alofts & elements, and is organized alphabetically by state, and then city.

Thank you Starwood for the re-design!

Here’s are some future Starwood Hotel locations which I found to be worth noting, in no particular order:

• The first “official” acknowledgment of the W Boston Hotel & Residences – prior to this, Starwood had always been tight lipped about the W they have been planning in Boston.
• The W Puerto Rico is going to be called W Retreat & Spa, Vieques – I must have missed this press release, because I always thought the W in Puerto Rico was to be in San Juan – instead, it’s a complete renovation of the Martineau Bay Resort, currently an unbranded Starwood managed resort.
• An aloft is going to be built in Woodbridge, NJ – nothing special to most people – but it’s the closest aloft to where I live!
• The Westin National Harbor is opening in Maryland in April – this Westin will be on the grounds of what is currently the largest construction project in the Washington DC area – the Gaylord National & National Harbor. This is news because I wasn’t aware that Gaylord Entertainment was allowing other hotel brands to be built within the project besides their own. UPDATE: I was alerted by a reader that Gaylord National is only a component of the National Harbor development. National Harbor is its own community, which will have 6 different Hotel Accommodations available upon completion.
• An aloft is scheduled to open just down the street from the Westin National Harbor in April 2009 (also within the National Harbor project).
• The W Scottsdale is scheduled to open in March of this year, this is the first time I have seen a firm date. It looks like it’s going to be an awesome W property. From the rendering on the website, it looks as though the pool is over the entrance to the parking garage, and even sticks out past the edge of the building a bit.
• Not one, but two alofts are scheduled to open in New York City – one in Long Island City, and another in Brooklyn. The Brooklyn location is the one that has been rumored to be a W, but it turns out that it’s going to be an aloft and Sheraton in one building, all three are due to open April/March 2009. An aloft/Sheraton is an interesting combination because up until now, alofts have always been built with elements. Supposedly the aloft/Sheraton is supposed to have a residential component – but it’s still unclear if that’s the case.
• There are 4 Le Meridien’s in the pipeline – one which already opened in Cambridge, MA, and then three other locations in Philadelphia, Tempe, AZ and Dallas, TX. Looks like Starwood is just starting to get the engine warmed up with LeMeridien’s expansion in America.

I know for a fact that there are a number of additional locations which have not yet made the list, due I’m sure to contracts not being finalized, but nonetheless I’m very happy to see Starwood’s hotel pipeline so full for the next few years, and I have not even taken into consideration Starwood’s worldwide expansion!

andrew@alconic-inc.com

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