CORPORATE MOVES
Guess Who’ s Back?
BARRY STERNLICHT HAS BROUGHT BACK STARWOOD HOTELS. CAN IT RECAPTURE ITS PAST SUCCESSES?
By DAVID EISEN
G
uess who’ s back, back again? Starwood Hotels is back— tell a friend.
It’ s official: SH Hotels & Resorts, the operating arm behind 1 Hotels & Homes, Baccarat Hotels & Residences, and Treehouse Hotels, has rebranded as Starwood Hotels, a hyper recognizable name within the hotel industry up until the company and its IP was acquired by Marriott International in 2016. And though Marriott now owns those original Starwood brands, from W to Westin, it never owned the name, which was retained by Barry Sternlicht, the chairman and CEO of Starwood Capital Group.
Starwood was originally founded as a REIT before being acquired by Sternlicht in 1995. From there, it rose with its trendy and seminal brands, which included the aforementioned W, arguably the first socalled“ lifestyle” brand to grow and expand at scale.
“ Reintroducing the Starwood Hotels name is personally very exciting for me. It’ s a tribute to a legacy that millions of people know and trust— and it comes at a decisive moment in our company’ s history,” said Sternlicht.
The past 10 years saw SH Hotels with two brands in the luxury space in 1 Hotels, an eco-driven, sustainably minded luxury brand, and Baccarat, where opulence and decadence converge. The former launched in 2015 with the opening of 1 Hotel South Beach and New York City’ s 1 Hotel Central Park, unique and curious for its biophilic design and sustainable practices. Over the past decade, the brand has expanded to Brooklyn, West Hollywood, Sanya, China, Toronto, Nashville, San Francisco, Hanalei Bay, and London.
Grand Salon at Baccarat Hotel New York.
“ As we reflect on a decade of 1 Hotels, we’ re proud of how far we’ ve come in inspiring guests to care for the planet,” said Sternlicht.“ With our new openings, we’ re bringing our mission to new markets and continuing to raise the bar for sustainable luxury.”
STERN TO BOW A spate of new 1 properties will open through 2025, including Seattle,
32 hotelsmag. com May / June 2025