In U.S. hotel developments, Hyatt has a new location in Houston; one of San Francisco’s top properties finished a major renovation; Manhattan gets a new independent hotel; Starwood adds a big Las Vegas affiliate and opens a pair of new Alofts; and Marriott expands its Autograph Collection.
Starwood Preferred Guest members headed to Las Vegas will soon have plenty of rooms to choose from. The lodging giant said that the 1,600-room SLS Las Vegas on the Strip at Sahara Boulevard will become a part of its Tribute Portfolio by the end of this year. That means the property will participate in Starwood’s reservations system and its loyalty program. And the company said that one of the three towers at SLS Las Vegas — the 289-room LUX Tower — will be converted into a W Hotel in 2016 after a renovation. Nightly rates at the SLS start at $49 (hey–it’s Las Vegas), plus a $29 resort fee.
Hyatt has cut the ribbon on a 14-story, 325-room Hyatt Regency next to Houston’s Galleria, the largest shopping center in Texas. Guest rooms feature 55-inch TVs with plug-and-play options for personal electronic devices, and free high-speed Internet. The hotel has a heated outdoor pool and adjacent fitness room as well as 11,000 square feet of meeting space. Rates start at $229. And Hyatt says a new Hyatt Place hotel will open next door in early 2016.

The new State Suite at The Palace, Starwood’s San Francisco Luxury Collection hotel. (Image: Starwood)
Starwood said that its Luxury Collection member in San Francisco, the 556-room, 55-suite Palace Hotel, has finished a $40 million overhaul. Redesigned guest rooms include some spectacular new suites, like the corner State Suite and the 1,000-square-foot Royal Suite. The skylit Garden Court was divided into the GC Lounge and the 120-seat Garden Court restaurant, and the fitness center was expanded to 3,000 square feet with new equipment, spa showers and more. Rates start around $295.
Hotels just keep opening in Manhattan, and the newest is an independent luxury property called The Renwick, at 118 E. 40th Street, a short walk from Grand Central Station. Its 173 “loft-style” rooms and suites feature design elements inspired by an artist’s studio. The new hotel offers free high-speed (200 Mb/s) Wi-Fi, a business center, fitness center, and a signature restaurant called Bedford & Co. from chef John DeLucie. Rates being at $459.
Tuscan villas served as the inspiration for the new Italian-themed Hotel Granduca Austin, on a 38-acre site at 320 S. Capital of Texas Highway. It has 194 rooms ranging from 480 to 1,350 square feet, featuring full-sized baths with walk-in showers, kitchenettes and huge closets. A member of The Leading Hotels of the World, the Granduca has a fitness center, sauna/massage rooms, a pool and a billiards room as well as a restaurant featuring northern Italian cuisine. Rates begin at $299.
Starwood also has opened a pair of new Aloft hotels in Raleigh, N.C, and Louisville, Ky. The Raleigh hotel is at 2100 Hillsborough Street across the street from the North Campus of North Carolina State University. Rates start at $170. The new Aloft Louisville Downtown is set along Whiskey Row a short distance from the Kentucky International Convention Center. The Louisville hotel’s bar takes on a local flair by offering more than 60 kinds of bourbon. Rates begin at $174.
Marriott’s Autograph Collection is the equivalent of Starwood’s Tribute Portfolio — an affiliated collection of independent properties that take part in Marriott Rewards and the Marriott reservations network. Marriott has just added three more hotels to that group, including The Envoy, a newly built, 136-room hotel in Boston’s so-called Innovation District; the Grand Bohemian Hotel Mountain Brook in the Birmingham, Alabama suburb of Mountain Brook; and The Citizen, a Sacramento, California hotel that occupies the 90-year-old California Life Insurance Building downtown.
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