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Brands Born in the Recession: Where Are They Now?

June 22, 2009 at 1:16 PM | by Jenna | 4 Comments

It's no secret that the economy has had a massive impact on the hotel industry. Hotel openings have been delayed; construction has been halted on properties in development; jobs have been lost; room rates have been slashed — but the last several years also saw a boom in the introduction of new brands and a handful of entirely new, supposedly game-changing segments (the "budget chic" pack, for example).

Naturally, with the introduction of each new brand came a wave of hype and some big, big expansion plans — and then came the recession. Needless to say, those big plans changed.

Here's a look at the current state of some of those newer brands — a progress report, if you will — that outlines how many properties each brand had planned on when the concept was introduced, how many properties they've actually opened as of mid-2009, and, of course, how they're faring out there in the cold, brutal world.

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The 1 Hotel Seattle is Still Just a Hole in the Ground

May 14, 2009 at 5:22 PM | by juliana | 0 Comments

This is what the proposed site for the 1 Hotel Seattle from master hotelier Barry Sternlicht looked like in February 2008. This is what it looks like now, in May 2009. We are struck by how remarkably similar this looks to the set of Parks and Recreation.

Yes, Sternlicht says that 1 Hotels "is still on" yet from past reports, we don't think the Seattle location is gonna make it. But while Sternlicht's talking about building a luxe green brand for the world's eco-conscious travelers, many hotels (both part of larger collections and independents) are already implementing green practices and some new buildings are obtaining LEED certifications. So Sternlicht better get on this fast.

Then again, leaving this lot undeveloped is actually pretty green in itself right now.

More 1 Hotel Seattle site snaps after the jump.

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Baccarat Wailea Gets Postponed -- Hopefully Not Cancelled

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 3550 Wailea Alanui Dr [map], Wailea, HI, United States, 96753
January 30, 2009 at 5:01 PM | by AndrewC | 0 Comments

While Barry Sternlicht and Co are busy starting up their new hotel management company, SH Group, another one of the initial Baccarat Hotel and Resorts has been postponed joining the Baccarat projects in Atlanta, Anguilla, and Water Cay which have also been postponed or canceled.

The Baccarat Wailea Hotel & Residences was originally scheduled to open in 2010, but currently they have not even started tearing down the existing hotel on the property - the former Renaissance Wailea Beach, and Starwood Capital came out with a statement this week stating that:

"We are going to take some time and pause to determine the proper course of action for our properties and evaluate some additional possibilities."

The Baccarat Wailea website has been deactivated and all mentions of Baccarat Wailea have been removed from BaccaratHotels.com.

In the mean time it's been reported that over $300 million in sales have been made since the project was first announced, but somehow that still didn't make the project successful enough.

No word yet if those who committed to a pre-sale are being let out of their contracts or if they are expected to wait for more news on the project; the General Manager of the Wailea Community Association said he expects an announcement within three weeks on the status of the project.

Even though most of their hotel development projects have been scaled back or canceled - the Baccarat Hotels brand (along with 1 Hotels and Crillon) will continue under SH Group, but when a location from one of these brands will actually open is another story. The formation of the management group can't come fast enough!

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How Barry Sternlicht Plans to Move Ahead With 1 Hotels

January 30, 2009 at 12:55 PM | by Jenna | 0 Comments

Ah, 1 Hotels. Such a mystery to us. A fantasy, even. But after years of being talked about and planned and hyped up...might you actually become a reality? Barry Sternlicht (who established Starwood Hotels) apparently thinks it's possible — even in this economy.

Now, we've mentioned him before as the man behind Starwood Capital's fabled 1 Hotel & Baccarat Hotel brands, two planned luxury chains that ran into some serious funding-related complications and were mostly either delayed or taken out of development entirely.

We'd put 1 Hotels on DeathWatch and were ready to write the brand off as a poorly-timed dream that never really came to fruition amidst the whole economic meltdown. And the Baccarat brand, in the opinion of one source we consulted, "was announced at the height of the market when everyone was frothin' at the mouth. And then the floor fell out before he could get all the cash to start an actual project, just like 1."

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1 Hotels Update :: Barry Sternlicht Loves Word Play and Mind Games

September 29, 2008 at 4:41 PM | by AndrewC | 0 Comments

We know how Barry Sternlicht loves to surprise and create puns and play around with words: he named W Hotels because it's the only letter of the alphabet with more than one syllable, and W's whole marketing is based around putting W's in their promotions and creating words based on W.

So we shouldn't have been too surprised when 1 Hotels updated their website to remove the Paris and Mammoth Mountain locations, but left the Seattle, NYC, Washington DC and Scottsdale locations and added a new page about One - even though we've heard numerous rumors about the brand being put on indefinite hold.

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Hotel DeathWatch :: Starwood Capital's 1 Hotel Brand Turning Into Just One Hotel

July 28, 2008 at 1:36 PM | by AndrewC | 2 Comments

With a very (very) heavy heart, we are reporting today on something from our sources: Starwood Capital's 1 Hotel & Residences brand is being substantially scaled back.

We mean like.. Instead of the 6 locations listed on their website, and an additional three locations announced since then (Atlanta-Buckhead, Cleveland, Ohio & Vancouver, BC), the world will only see one or two 1 Hotels open in the next few years, as the rest have been permanently or temporarily put on hold due to market conditions.

Our sources tell us that only the Vancouver, BC location and New York City location are still scheduled to be built, although the NYC location will probably not be in Bryant Park.

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Dubai Gets Another Hotel Brand :: Baccarat Hotel & Residences

July 21, 2008 at 12:54 PM | by AndrewC | 0 Comments

Now we can add Baccarat Hotel and Residences to Dubai's ever growing portfolio of hotels. Over the weekend, Starwood Capital and Mr. S himself, announced the Baccarat Hotel & Residences at Dubai Pearl.

For those who gave up keeping track of Dubai's developments years ago - Dubai Pearl is made up of retail, hotels, residences, and commercial components and is located right at the foot of the Palm Jumeriah (you know, the smaller of the 2 man-made islands in the shape of a palm tree.)

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A Look at the Uber-Green Goodness Expected to Ooze Out of The 1 Hotel Vancouver Island

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: Vancouver, BC, Canada
June 26, 2008 at 4:30 PM | by AndrewC | 0 Comments


So two days ago we briefly reported how Starwood Capital and Marine Drive Properties is developing the 1 Hotel & Residences Vancouver Island in British Columbia (that would be Canada), within the Wyndansea development, but it took a day for us to realize just how cool this 1 Hotel location is.

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More Bad News for the 1 Hotel Seattle

June 25, 2008 at 10:19 AM | by AndyG | 3 Comments

Things aren't going too well for the 1 Hotel Seattle.

If things weren't already bad enough for Barry Sternlicht's Seattle baby, Avalon Holdings (a significant partner and the original developer of the hotel) has sold its entire interest in the project to Starwood Capital.

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Atlanta's Streets of Starwood Capital, er... Streets of Buckhead

June 16, 2008 at 11:30 AM | by AndrewC | 0 Comments



1 Hotel on the Left, Baccarat on the Right

Atlanta's Buckhead community has had a lot of development lately. It's quickly becoming the Beverly Hills of Atlanta, with luxury developments springing up left and right.

One of the biggest developments is the Streets of Buckhead, which is a mixed-use development made up of luxury apartments, high-end retailers, an office building and three hotels. Two of these hotels are confirmed to be a 1 Hotel & Residences and Baccarat Hotel & Residences, both of which are from Starwood Capital.

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Good News for Travelers and Hotel Geeks :: Fewer Price Hikes on Hotel Rooms in Forseeable Future

June 9, 2008 at 4:48 PM | by juliana | 3 Comments

For spontaneous travelers and hotel geeks like ourselves, there is some good news in all of this recession and economic woes talk: hotels won't be raising room rates as much or as frequently in the near future. In fact, there may be some discounts abound!

Many hoteliers and CEOs sounded off at the NYU Tisch Hospitality Center conference last week, which Andrew Gindy dutifully reported on for us.

According to BTN Online, Bill Marriott even said that discounting will probably start happening. Yet it was Barry Sternlicht who seemed to have the bleakest outlook on the hotel market:

Barry Sternlicht, chairman and CEO of Starwood Capital Group, said to expect the softening to continue for at least 18 months....

"The U.S. consumer is stretched, and we've been waiting for him to collapse for quite some time. Businesses will do what they've always done in every cycle: tighten their belts," Sternlicht said. "It's going to be worse before it gets better."

Whoa, Barry Downer. He's probably just depressed that he's trying to launch a chain of luxury hotels in these trying times.

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Inside the 30th Annual NYU International Hotel Investment Conference

June 5, 2008 at 2:14 PM | by AndyG | 0 Comments

[Ed. Note: We have a special report from Andrew Gindy, Cornell hotel student and blogger behind Chocolate on the Pillow, about the Tisch Center's Hospitality Conference that went down earlier this week. It's full of industry happenings and hotelier appearances. Enjoys.]

Hotel investors meet up at the spot in the Waldorf where they get five bars cell reception.

What a crazy last two days! The biggest hotel conference of the year just wrapped up yesterday afternoon at the Waldorf=Astoria after two days full of guest speakers, informative panels, excellent networking opportunities, and numerous cocktail parties. Over 2,500 attendees were there to witness the hotel madness, including us.

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