We always enjoy, and well, it drives us crazy at times too, watching hotel opening dates slowly but surely get pushed back. Some hotel operators are infamous for it, and some manage to keep it on the DL.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts is one of the companies that try to keep it on the DL but since some of their locations have such high visibility, it's impossible to not notice. After the jump, we run down some of the good and the bad in the Starwood portfolio as it pertains to hotel openings and delays. ]]> AndrewC 2008-10-09T11:54:30-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/10/9/9229/96386 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/admin/aloftsignage.jpg" class="imgborder"> <p>You may remember the Dallas 'hood Las Colinas if you're up on your pop culture references: many folks say LC was the inspiration (and at least the partial filming location) for the suburban corporate town in the 1999 oh-so-relateable movie <i>Office Space</i>.<p>Accordingly, Starwood has put an <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/aloft%20hotels"><b>Aloft</b></a> there: it's got lots of office space (hehe), plenty of casual dining chain restaurants in which the waitstaff dons suspenders accented with pieces of flair, and there are plenty of business travelers going in and outta there. <p>Today, <b><a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Aloft+Las+Colinas/ian/271689">Aloft Las Colinas</a></b> is <a href="http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/100908dnbusstarwood.f334147c.html">open</a>. It's the first Texas location of the Aloft/Element family to get up and running, and (like a Las Colinas mustang) it has pulled ahead Jenna 2008-10-09T09:45:41-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/10/2/143912/982

Last week was the grand opening party for the aloft Charleston Airport & Convention Center, and this Aloft decided to throw a party - and donate to a good cause.

We spoke to Brian Harris, the General Manager of the Aloft Charleston who said:

"We had well over 500 guests throughout the night, who all loved the hotel. A lot of people said it reminds them of being in New York City or Miami and is a nice change from the more traditional hotels that Charleston is known for."

Green is the new black. Toting canvas bags to the grocery store, recycling, and buying free-range chicken are no longer fringe activities and no city has benefited more from this trend than Portland, Oregon, home of tree-huggers, granola, and no sales tax.

With six new and updated hip hotels, Portland is offering up even more of it's unique flavor to out-of-towners -- The Oregonian clued us in today.]]> abigailmschilling 2008-09-30T16:04:44-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/9/30/85747/1710

Is it just us, or do Aloft hotels make anyone else reminisce about the old-school cartoon show "Animaniacs," with Pinky and the Brain on a persistent quest for world domination? The dialogue writes itself:

Brian McGuinness, vice president of Aloft: Gee Frits, what do you want to do tonight?
Frits van Paasschen, CEO of Starwood: The same thing we do every night--try to take over the world.

And in spite of a few documented setbacks, Aloft gets one step closer January 1. Aloft Dulles-North, located near Washington Dulles Airport some 30 miles from our fair nation's capital, has rescheduled its November opening for one (presumably) well-timed with inauguration mania.