New hotels: Starwood in Vegas, SF + Hyatt in Houston + NYC, Austin, more

November 10, 2015

The huge SLS Las Vegas is joining Starwood’s Preferred Guest program. (Image: Starwood)

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.

The new Hyatt Regency at Houston’s Galleria. (Image: Hyatt)

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.

A guest room at The Renwick in midtown Manhattan. (Image: The Renwick)

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.

Austin's new Granduca Hotel has overtones of an Italian villa. (Image: The Granduca)

Austin’s new Hotel Granduca has overtones of an Italian villa. (Image: Hotel Granduca)

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.

The new Aloft Louisville Downtown. (Image: Aloft)

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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Shiny new hotels for you: Chicago, NYC, Dallas, Houston…

September 22, 2015

Outdoor Terrace at Starwood Luxury Collection’s The Gwen in Chicago. (Image: Starwood)

In hotel news, leading properties in Chicago and Manhattan change their identities; mid-priced hotels open in the heart of Dallas and Houston; and more independents join up as affiliates of national chains.

Starwood Hotels’ Luxury Collection has added its first property in Chicago. The company has finished the previously announced conversion of the former Conrad Hotel (part of the Hilton family) into a Starwood property called The Gwen, a Luxury Collection Hotel. It’s at 521 North Rush Street in the River North/Magnificent Mile area, directly linked to The Shops at North Bridge. It’s in the old McGraw-Hill Building, an art deco structure, and it’s named after Gwen Lux, a sculptor from the 1920s whose work influenced the design of the period. The Gwen has 300 rooms, three restaurants, and terraces overlooking the Chicago skyline. Rates start at around $360.

Another leading hotel in Manhattan has been acquired by an Asian company and changed its identity. This time it’s the New York Palace Hotel at 50th Street and Madison Avenue, right behind St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The elegant hotel which underwent a $140 million overhaul two years ago, has been acquired by South Korea’s Lotte Hotels & Resorts, a subsidiary of the Lotte Group, one of Korea’s biggest conglomerates. The hotel is now called the Lotte New York Palace. Earlier, the Waldorf Astoria was purchased by a Chinese company.

The new Hilton Garden Inn in downtown Dallas. (Image: Hilton)

Hilton Worldwide has cut the ribbon on the Hilton Garden Inn Downtown Dallas at 1600 Pacific Avenue, next to Thanksgiving Square and the Thanksgiving Tower. It’s part of a mixed-use project in the city’s LTV building, not far from Dealey Plaza and the AT&T Performing Arts Center. The 171-room Garden Inn has free Wi-Fi throughout the hotel, a 24-hour business center, outdoor pool, fitness center, restaurant with Southern cuisine, and a 24-hour Pavilion Pantry. Rates start at $135.

Marriott’s new SpringHill Suites in downtown Houston. (Image: Marriott)

The newest lodging option in downtown Houston is Marriott’s 167-suite SpringHill Suites Houston Downtown/Convention Center, located at 914 Dallas Street, between Main and Travis streets, three blocks from The Shops at Houston mall. The building, a former apartment complex, was originally the Humble Oil Building, dating to 1921. Guests get a free hot breakfast every day, and guest accommodations provide separate living, working and sleeping spaces. There’s an outdoor pool, a fitness center and a 24-hour market. Rates start at $229.

Meanwhile, leading hotel companies continue to expand their roster of independent affiliate properties, which participate in their reservations systems and their loyalty programs. In the latest developments, Marriott has added the Grand Bohemian Hotel in Charleston, S.C., to its Autograph Collection; and Hilton’s Curio Collection has taken on The Admiral Hotel in Mobile, Ala. and The Partridge Inn Augusta in downtown Augusta, Ga.

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New hotels: London + Hamburg + Prague + China + Hyderabad + Jeddah + Lima + B.A.

July 24, 2015

A guest room at London’s newly reopened Lanesborough Hotel. (Image: Lanesborough)

In overseas hotel developments, a London classic reopens; Starwood’s Luxury Collection adds a pair of properties, and so does Hilton’s Curio Collection; Marriott and Hyatt add China locations; Radisson debuts in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; and Wyndham adds a Peruvian hotel.

One of London’s top five-star hotels, The Lanesborough, has reopened after an 18-month overhaul. The renovation of the 93-room hotel in Knightsbridge included all guest rooms and public areas, and gave the property a new restaurant called Celeste, offering French-inspired cuisine with British ingredients. Nightly rates at the Lanesborough begin at $1,100. Elsewhere in London, The former Hilton London Docklands Riverside along the Thames has been refurbished and rebranded as the DoubleTree by Hilton London Docklands. The 378-room DoubleTree is a short ferry ride across the river from Canary Wharf Pier; rates start around $280.

Seven historic buildings in the heart of Prague have been converted into the newly opened Augustine, a member of Starwood’s Luxury Collection. The 100-room property is within walking distance of Charles Bridge and Prague Castle. It’s the first Luxury Collection hotel in the Czech Republic. Rates start at about $350.

A room at the Reichshof Hamburg. (Image: Hilton)

In Germany, the renovated Reichshof Hamburg, an historic 278-room hotel across the street from Hamburg’s Central Railway Station, has opened as a member of Hilton’s Curio Collection — an affiliated group of independent properties that participate in Hilton’s reservations system and in HHonors. Rates begin around $175.

In the Middle East, the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group has cut the ribbon on the Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The 112-room Radisson Blu is on King Abdullah Road close to the Al Andalus and Al Salam shopping malls. It has an outdoor pool, fitness center and all-day restaurant. Rates start around $180 a night.

Exterior view of the Sheraton Hyderabad. (Image: Starwood)

The newest hotel in the Indian city of Hyderabad is Starwood’s Sheraton Hyderabad, a renovation of an earlier property. The 272-room Sheraton is surrounded by the corporate offices of multinationals, and is close to the HITEX Exhibition Centre and the Hyderabad International Convention Centre. Rates start around $100.

Luxury accommodations at The Grand Mansion in Nanjing. (Image: Starwood)

Nanjing, the capital of China’s Jiangsu province, is the site of The Grand Mansion, a newly opened member of Starwood’s Luxury Collection. The 158-room hotel on Chanjiang Road near the Presidential Palace has 15 suites and a 3,000-volume library as well as a tea lounge and a Chinese restaurant. Opening rates start around $175. Elsewhere in China, the 311-room Zhuzhou Marriott has opened in the central business district of Zhuzhou, which is close to Changsha, the provincial capital of Hunan. And Hyatt cut the ribbon on the 330-room Hyatt Regency Wuhan Optics Valley, 45 minutes from Wuhan’s airport in Hubei Province.

A room at the Anselmo in Buenos Aires. (Image: Hilton)

In Argentina, the 50-room Anselmo Buenos Aires — built as a mansion in 1906 along Plaza Dorrego Square in the historic San Telmo neighborhood — has become a member of Hilton’s Curio Collection. Rates begin at $139. And in Peru, the newly-built, 144-room Wyndham Costa del Sol Lima has opened in the capital city. It’s close to a number of embassies, the financial district and the Real Plaza Salaverry shopping district. Rates begin at $127.

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Hottest new hotels in New York, Dallas, Chicago

May 16, 2015

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Guest room at Marriott’s New York EDITION. (Image: Marriott)

Marriott opens its new EDITION hotel in New York City this month, the old Statler Hilton in downtown Dallas is getting a new life, and a leading Chicago property will change brands.

In New York, one of Manhattan’s older landmark buildings — the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower, also known as the Clocktower — is becoming Marriott’s New York EDITION this month. Located on Madison Avenue near E. 23rd Street, the easily recognizable building dates back to 1909. As part of the EDITION brand — created by Marriott with hotel guru Ian Schrager — the hotel will have 273 rooms, a restaurant from celebrity chef Jason Atherton, and a design inspired by “turn of the 20^th century private clubs, Fifth Avenue’s Gilded Age Mansions and Stanford White’s architectural masterpieces,” Marriott said. Rates start at $675.

The former Dallas Statler Hilton. (Image: Hilton)

The old Dallas Statler Hilton at 1914 Commerce Street downtown opened in the 1950s and has been sitting idle for a decade, but it is getting new life. A developer plans to renovate the historic building with 161 hotel rooms on the lower floors and 219 apartments on the upper levels, with work starting this month. It will also get meeting rooms, office space and four restaurants. And when it’s finished in about a year and a half, it will be called the Statler Hotel and Residences, and will be a member of Hilton’s Curio Collection.

Entrance to the Conrad Chicago. (Image: Conrad Hotels)

The Conrad Chicago at 521 North Rush Street, just off Michigan Avenue, is a part of the Hilton family of brands, but it will change its name and affiliation this coming fall. The hotel’s new name hasn’t been picked yet, but it will become a part of Starwood’s Luxury Collection following a renovation project, Starwood announced.