Rumors of 1 Hotels Demise Are Greatly Exaggerated

Andrew Calvo | May 13, 2009 | 0 Comments

I’m happy to report that any and all rumors of the 1 Hotels brand being permanently canceled are not true. For awhile now there has been zero activity in the news, on the 1 Hotels website, except for the cancelling of one 1 Hotel project after another.

If you didn’t watch it already – Bloomberg TV did probably one of the greatest interviews of Barry Sternlicht I have ever seen. In it he took time to explain the 1 Hotel brand and showed the design board where the designers figure out colors, textures and materials to use in the hotels. In fact, there was even a rendering of a 1 Hotel that i have never seen prior to the interview, so its apparent that the 1 Hotel brand is in progress.. In it he also claimed that the first 1 Hotel will be opening when the economy comes out of the recession.. A bit vague – yet decidedly assuring that it will happen. From all indications Ive seen it sounds like the 1 Hotel Washington DC will be the first 1 Hotel to come online toward the end of 2010.

The biggest hint that the brand is still is in development is a new flash animation at 1Hotel.com. Unfortunately after the animation is finished it brings you to the site that hasn’t really changed since the addition of the “One” page, but still its progress in an otherwise dismal economic environment!

The flash animation doesn’t really provide further insight into the brand – its merely nice music, nice pictures of environmentally friendly materials, concepts, and places, but it also has alot of text which shows what the brand is about.

1 Hotel Logos in Flash Animation

One quote from the animation:

“We don’t want to tell anyone what to believe,
We just want to show them what we believe.”

It’s going to be fascinating to watch Starwood create this brand – from the information contained in this animation, to what Starwood has been promoting all along, it has the capability to change what is expected in the hotel industry forever – and that expectation isnt just a bar in the lobby, or a room with a really comfortable bed – its the expectation that staying at that hotel will help the environment, make our natural habitats last longer, and bring its natural beauty in to the fabric of a hotel.

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