When 12-year-old Claudia Kincaid and her 9-year-old brother Jamie decide to run away in 1967’s The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, they head off to New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, where they sleep in a big, antique bed and they make money from the coins tourists throw into the fountains. 

If the fictional pair were to hit the road today, they might want to head to the headquarters of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide in Stamford, Connecticut. That is where the company has opened its new two-level Starwood Experience, an open idea lab that might also appeal to another young hotel lover (Eloise). The showcase invites visitors to check out what’s coming next in a few “next generation model guest rooms,” according to a press release. (Certainly this would feel better than the old lumpy antique bed at the Met.) 

The idea is to test out new innovations in two- and three-dimensional design, guest-facing technology, brand programming, event activation in public spaces, and food and beverage initiatives for such Starwood hotel brands as Sheraton, Westin, Le Meridien, Aloft, Element and Four Points by Sheraton.
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China is the second latest economy in the world, every significant brand's future is impacted by its growth (or collapse!); but who's got the time?!  A weekly potpourri of ten reads that will make you look like a keen China observer during any conversation about China.

This week, Xiaomi, Apple, Google, Lamborghini, Coca-Cola, Chinese fashion dilemma, brands on Weibo, a 300th KFC and more... Continue reading...

Got something to say about a hotel owned by Starwood? Well, they want to hear about it. 

Starwood Hotels and Resorts is the first U.S. global hotel owner to provide an online-review function on its own website so that visitors to Sheraton, Westin, W and other Starwood brands can share how they feel, according to USA Today.

Of course, opening up their hotels' websites to surface the opinions of guests and providing ways to share them via Facebook or Twitter isn’t necessarily a good thing, particularly if one of the thousands of people who stay in a Starwood brand each night has a bad experience.Continue reading...

Hilton Hotels & Resorts, vying to be considered the global leader in hospitality, has developed “a tailored experience for Chinese travelers that takes its name from the Chinese word for 'welcome.'”

Beginning in August, Chinese travelers will find the Huanying program in place  at 30 Hilton properties including San Francisco, New York, Hawaii, Vancouver, London, Tokyo and Sydney.  

It’s all part of a global outreach by the world's top hotel brands as increasing numbers of tourists from mainland China join the global travel market as hotels compete for their business.

"Chinese travel is going to provide one of the great opportunities that we'll ever see in the business," said Hilton CEO Chris Nassetta.Continue reading...

Starwood has spent a few billion dollars over the last few years trying to revamp the image of its Sheraton hotel chain.

The company must be feeling pretty good about its efforts because it is now spending $20 million on an ad campaign in hopes of bringing more revenue (and loyal customers) to the 74-year-old business.

The main thrust of its new “Meet You There” campaign, according to a press release, is how Sheraton nurtures a sense of community for its guests.Continue reading...

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For an entire month, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide's main offices will be located in China.

The US-based hotelier is planning to open an astounding hotel every two weeks in China for the rest of this year, an agressive expansion that made it almost a necessity for Starwood's CEO, Frits van Paasschen, and other top execs from the company's White Plains, New York, headquarters to relocate to Shanghai.

The commitment to China was in place even before the Beijing Olympics, as Starwood Asia Pacific exec Matthew Fry told Bloomberg in 2008. True to its word, Starwood is now opening its new Chinese properties at a dizzying rate.Continue reading...