Starwood Hotels and Resorts

• Up-scale experience
• Brands
• Preferred Guest program
• American Express partnership

Starwood Hotels and Resorts are known for providing luxurious hotel properties to guests looking for a more up-scale experience while traveling. There are a number of accommodations available, however they do vary depending on the brand and actual property a guest decides to reserve a room with. Like other hotel parent companies, Starwood Hotels and Resorts built up eleven brands prior to merging with Marriott. The Starwood hotel brands are labeled as luxurious due to their high-end nature. The eleven Starwood brands that make up this new branch of Marriott include the following chains:

1. Westin - one o the largest upscale hotels and resorts with founding roots dating back to 1930.
2. Sheraton - known as the "flagship brand," Sheraton is a luxury hotel that opened up in 1937. Today, Sheraton also includes 7 Vacation Ownership properties.
3. The Luxury Collection - part of a purchase from ITT, the Luxury Collection is an elite Italian based international hotel chain.
4. Four Points by Sheraton - opened in 1995, the Four Seasons falls under the Sheraton Group's brand.
5. W Hotels - this luxury boutique hotel brand geared towards young people launched in 1998 in W New York.
6. St. Regis - when it was launched in 1999, St. Regis was the main Starwood luxury brand. There are 57 operating hotels currently.
7. Le Meridien - founded by Air France in 1972, Starwood purchased the hotel chain in 2005. There are 137 operating properties around the world. It is also a upper-upscale brand.
8. Aloft - the brand falls under the W Hotels branch of the business. It is a mid-scale, more urban-style business and boutique hotel brand.
9. Element by Westin - the first Element hotel opened in July 2008 and has been recognized as the first brand of hotels labeled as "environmentally friendly." The floors are made of recycled material and the rooms have energy-efficient lighting and plumbing fixtures. There are only three Element hotels right now.
10. Tribute Portfolio - the Tribute Portfolio brand was launched in April 2015 and is essentially a collection of independent four and five-star hotels.
11. Design Hotels - Starwood was a major investor in Design Hotels which provides hospitality to services to 300 independently owned and operated hotels. In 2015, Starwood added the brand to their portfolio, but continues to operate independently.

The Starwood Preferred Guest program (SPG) is a worldwide loyalty service that allows guests to earn benefits and redeem points almost anywhere in the world. The Starwood Preferred Guest program has over 21 million members. Additionally, SPG offers a Gold Preferred Guest and Platinum Preferred Guest program as well. The benefits associated with each are as follows:

• Preferred Guest: earn two Starpoints for each dollar spent on eligible stays, complimentary in-room Wi-fi, save up to 30% on over 1,000 restaurants and bars, and points never expire.
• Gold Preferred Guest: earn three Starpoints for every dollar spent on eligible stays, late checkout, upgrade to enhanced rooms at check-in, welcome gift available on arrival, register with additional rewards programs, and receive all benefits of preferred guests.
• Platinum Preferred Guest: earn three Starpoints for every dollar spent on eligible stays, receive all benefits of Gold and Preferred programs, earn additional rewards and benefits through other rewards programs.

Along with the Preferred Guest program is the partnership Starwood has with American Express. This partnership is coupled with 32 affiliated airlines which ultimately provides guests with the ability to redeem their points for flights.

• Limited properties
• Expensive